Life Together
by Recidivist
Summary: 2000 (vocab) mini-drabbles of life apart and together. Red/Green, Gold/Silver, and whatever else may pop up. Slightly AU-ish, and kind of based off the games. Currently updating erratically (once every 2-7 days?), 10 words/prompts per chapter. First 960 done
1. Chapter 1

Hi! I'm studying for a standardized exam that's in October so that means a lot of vocabulary. To make memorizing more fun, here's the first 10 of a compilation of 2000 mini drabbles! If you're uncomfortable with slash then sorry this is a good time to to a step back because I'm probably going to include a lot of my ships throughout these. Pairings will be mostly Red/Green, Gold/Silver and whatever pops up. I'm under the impression that Lance let Green continue school for a while after losing to Red so that he actually knew how to run a gym.

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Pokemon. The order and definition of the words are from my flashcards so if that's copyrighted, I don't own the English language either?

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1. castigate: to criticize severely, especially in public

Red sighed under the surface of the bath's now lukewarm water. Charizard looked over at him, wondering of the water was too cold. Red shook his head and stood up, trying to smell himself. After a long day of training, it was inevitable that he sweat a little, and probably had a fairly... manly odor. But he didn't need Green castigating him loudly for smelling like sweat. A little too loudly, since the mountains echoed on clear days and pokemon flying by always seemed to look at them weirdly when Green shouted his trademark goodbye.

That "smell ya later" secretly nagged Red. It happens when Mt. Silver whispers, "SMELL YA, smell ya, smell ya, smell ya..." after Green turns away and leaves.

2. induct: to place formally in office; to admit as a member

Lance rubbed the crease between his eyebrows irritably. He was sure that a permanent line was developing there. With Giovanni gone and the official Kanto champion at Arceus knows where, the press was all over him asking who the next champion and Viridian leader would be. Lance had quite selflessly taken upon the role of Champion like any good man would have done (right?).

He had extended a (courteous and overly generous) call to Green shortly after Red's victory and disappearance, offering him the position as Viridian's gym leader. Green responded with a dull grunt of acceptance (was that attitude Lance heard? Well he was probably still sulking), on the condition that he get to finish school first and graduate before becoming leader. And after all that time to prepare and think and plan, he arrived at the gym leader induction ceremony one evening, _five years later_ in a purple shirt and black slacks, disheveled (and stupidly smiling) as if he had just come off a mountain.

Lance face palmed. He had sent Lorelei to watch the gym for _five years_ so Green could finish school and grow up a little. Behind the scenes, as Green was about to go upstage and accept his title, Lance unbuttoned his cape and handed it to Green. It would have to do.

3. trivial: of little worth or importance

It was just earlier that morning that Green had been up Mt. Silver. Red looked across the fire at Green. Green was staring into the flames, absentmindedly swirling the water in the pot as he waited for it to boil. Green was so good at talking, something Red had given up since it seemed like nobody listened to him. Green had so many words and stories, ones about challengers and girls and new pokemon and heroes across the world. To Red, these stories were trivial, but didn't complain. Green's voice filled up the empty silence between them and almost made it seem like the time they spent together years ago.

4. corollary: a natural consequence or effect; a deduction or an inference

Green really liked Red. Not that he would admit it, of course, but he really liked Red. So him going up the damn mountain every other Sunday followed as a corollary. Somebody had to check whether or not the idiot was alive. And to tell him to come down the mountain. And to make sure that Red wouldn't forget him.

5. overwrought: extremely nervous or excited.

Green had essentially become Red's calendar. Him coming up the mountain and grumbling was so normal and routine that on Saturday evenings Red would make sure to be especially clean. And if Red was a little nervous to see him, Green was completely overwrought with anxiety. He'd have to make sure to have enough stories to tell, or else the silence would kill him and he'd be squirming on the inside all day. He'd have to make sure that Red hadn't left and disappeared.

And though both sides were fidgety, Sundays somehow passed by, a little less awkward than each feared it would be. One of these days, Green would confess, but not yet. Who knew if Red actually had hormones.

6. disabuse: to free from error or falsehood

And of course, Green's (indirect?) confession came a whole lot sooner than he expected. Green had been talking about Leaf's crappy choice in boyfriends, when Red interrupted him.

"You like me."

These three words, uttered in a voice a little husky from lack of use, caused Green to forget whatever he was talking about, flush redder than Gold's Gyarados, and bury his face in his hands. Red stared impassively, and Green was too embarrassed to try to fake disabusing Red's claim.

7. generic: without a trademark; general

It was only supposed to be a generic "visit Red and bring food and talk" Sunday. As the clouds swathing Mt. Silver's peak turned a shade darker, Green knew it was time to leave and wrapped up his visit with a final Leaf-centric rant. So when Red had spoken to him for the first time in Arceus knows how long, he was unsure whether he was supposed to be happy that Red talked, angry that Red had ignored him up to that point, or deeply, deeply embarrassed at what he said. After his face finally began to cool, he looked up from his hands, and at Red's namesake eyes. "And you?"

8. stipulate: to agree to a fact as part of a larger debate; to state a demand in an agreement

Red's face didn't even twitch or color the slightest as he nodded.

Green's cheeks burned as blood once again rushed to his face and he resisted the urge to roll on the floor in happiness. He then repeated the demand that Red come down the mountain, and was giddy when Red actually stipulated, on the condition he get one more year to wait for a challenger to beat him. Green bit the side of his cheek, and then relented. It would be a start in mending the strange relationship their connection had become.

9. volatile: tending to vary widely; unstable; quickly evaporating

When Green came down (he most certainly did NOT skip down the paths, humming) the mountain and back into civilization, his phone buzzed angrily with twenty three missed calls from Leaf. He ignored the currently incoming call, wary of becoming subject to Leaf's doubtlessly volatile temper. Ah, there was that induction ceremony at Indigo Plateau today...

10. fetid: having a bad odor

Green visited the Viridian gym on his flight back to Pallet. The place was icy and damp in whichever places Lorelei had frozen. The toilets were frozen over, the plumbing cracking and emitting a fetid smell. He expected Lorelei to have left the gym pristine, but maybe she just really hated Green. Yeah, that was probably it, he'd sassed her pretty bad (even in Green standards) way way back, after defeating her in the Elite Four. Well, he'd have a year to clean this place up...


	2. Chapter 2

Authors always thank reviewers for reviews but this is the first time I've written something and I got a review already and I feel so fuzzy aaah

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11. disarray: confusion, disorder

Lorelei had always seemed the uptight, neat kind of woman. So when Green went to clean up the gym the morning after the induction ceremony, he was mortified by the state of disarray she had left her papers in. She definitely hated him. The worst thing was, he couldn't even toss them all in the incinerator because here or there he'd find important documents. She had not been exceptionally friendly with the locals either, as they all seemed to look at him warily when he announced his position as Viridian's new leader.

12. plethora: an abundance or excess of something

When Green deemed the office reasonably clean, he sidled out of his office to open the gym to challengers. He was stared down by a plethora of trainers waiting to battle.

13. exacerbate: to make more violent, bitter, or severe

Green had crushed the challengers in no more than two minutes each, just using Eevee. They presented so little challenge that he was split between feeling frustrated and sorry for the kids. His bad mood was only exacerbated by the fact that his trainers that were supposed to battle the challengers (and stop the freaking horde of them from reaching him) were nowhere in sight. He'd make sure to train them so hard they'd regret ever being absent. And so that he'd never have to battle those kids that cried when their pokemon got hit.

14. ephemeral: lasting for a short time; fleeting

After beating the last challenger, Green retreated to his office to sulk over his boredom. He looked through the papers he sorted, and found a log listing the dates Lorelei had actually been around the gym. He slammed his forehead on the table (a little too hard since it started to sting) when he realized that Lorelei had only stayed around to battle challengers _four_ times in the past five years, and her presence had been so ephemeral that trainers looking to collect badges had given up on Viridian's badge. Which explained the horde of impatient kids who were looking for him after realizing that the new gym leader was actually there to do his job.

15. disposed: having a preference or tendency

Green was disposed to push annoying tasks onto others. So he dug out the phone numbers of the trainers that were supposed to be working under him, called them all and threatened to fire all of them if they didn't show up the next day. They all apologized profusely, saying they had all gotten new jobs nearby since Lorelei was never at the gym (so they never got paid).

16. beacon: a signaling light; a source of guidance or inspiration

After a long day of battling crappy trainers, Green was tired. Trying to battle kids without crushing their ego was mentally exhausting. He had yet to find an apartment in Viridian, so he called out Pidgeot to fly him back to Pallet. The sun was beginning to set, and Green would have admired the beauty of nature if he didn't have to worry about going blind from the rushing wind. Long shadows began to darken the countryside, and he would have flown straight past Pallet if he didn't see the little houses' lights twinkling like tiny beacons.

17. definitive: complete

Green got up at five the next morning, and asked his half-asleep Pidgeot to give him a ride back to Viridian. Judging by the bird's deadpan stare, it'd be unwilling to make this commute on a daily basis. After landing outside the gym, he made sure to give Pidgeot an extra nice pat on the back before returning it to its pokeball. The sun was just beginning to poke out from the distant mountains, and it was probably too early for trainers to be coming in to challenge him. Good, because Green was planning to booby trap the whole dang thing so he'd never had to feel guilty about battling again. He booted up the computer in his office and began to research. That would be the best and most definitive solution to this whole beating up kids problem.

18. incessant: never pausing; continuous; without a stop

By eight o' clock Green's stomach was beginning to wail incessantly. He'd just finished blueprinting a near impossible maze and had contacted Sinnoh's renowned engineer, Volkner for the supplies. As he locked the gym on his way out to the restaurant down the street, he passed a couple trainers that seemed to be heading towards the gym. Green sighed.

19. conceit: a fanciful idea or image, especially an exaggerated poetic comparison; an extravagant construction

As he stepped in the restaurant, he was greeted by a hyper young lady behind the counter. She took his order a little too excitedly, and he grimaced a little when her voice reached an unnaturally high pitch. He stoically took his bagel and coffee, sat at one of the tables by the windows, and leaned back in the colorful chair. There was nobody in the restaurant except for two girls seated at the other end of the dining area, but they were talking loud enough for him to hear.

"Oh my god is that _the_ Green Oak he's so hot!"

"I remember him from the Kanto championships, like, five years ago! But he was a total conceited asshole back then, I mean did you see him when he lost?"

"Whatever~, he's totally grown up now, like girl, look at those sexy eyes! I heard he's the new gym leader too! Hey, I might ask for a trainer's license just so I can go check him out at the gym!"

Green choked on his coffee. He slammed the foam cup down and stormed out.

20. largess: generosity in giving gifts

Green was not famous for his largess. But he was growing desperate for a way to stop kids from challenging him again and again; yesterday, this one kid came by _four_ times to challenge him (Green wiped the floor with him each time). He debated handing out badges to the persistent ones. He'd heard stories of the leaders in Hoenn dishing bashes out like candy, so he probably wouldn't get in too much trouble. As he reentered the gym, he became suspicious as he noticed the door was unlocked. He put a hand on Eevee's pokeball and walked in cautiously.


	3. Chapter 3

Should I make longer chapters coz if I keep doing just 10 per chapter that means this will end up with 200 chapters... whoa...

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21. eschew: to avoid; to shun

Red lived on top of a mountain because he was afraid of people. People changed so much; they could be so kind and then so cruel, and it scared him to see how the people he battled could react so viciously when they lost. After beating Lance, he ran away to eschew the whole business of fighting both innocent kids and dangerous criminals. Only strong trainers could get up the mountain, and strong trainers were good trainers that would take the loss graciously. And maybe, some day, one of them would be able to teach Red the feeling of loss.

22. blatant: offensively obvious; unpleasantly noisy

The few trainers that made it up the mountain always asked questions. Most of them had blatantly obvious answers. Others, Red didn't know the answer to. He found that just staring was usually good enough to silence them. It never worked on Green though. But nothing made sense when it came to Green anyway.

23. innocuous: harmless

Green had a fear of Golbats. It was really odd, as Green was supposed to be fearless, reckless, bold, and the one to comfort Red when they watched scary movies as kids. But he couldn't stand Golbats. They were mostly innocuous, just really annoying if you walked like a dinosaur (some trainers were so loud Red could hear them way before they even got close to the peak) and didn't have a strong pokemon walking with you to scare them off.

24. derive: to obtain from a specified source

Time away from people meant a lot of thinking. Red thought about many kinds of things. Some days, he'd read the books Green or his mom would borrow for him, and try to make sense of the long words. They brought him all kinds of books: his mom would ask Green to bring novels and textbooks (and Green would always make sure to complain about their weight), and Green would often bring along a couple magazines or newspapers. After reading one psychology textbook, he began to observe people and derive formulas to describe them or how they would react if he did something. He'd perfected his theories on the occasional trainer, but had yet to fit Green in an equation. Red thought a lot about Green.

25. uncanny: strangely unsettling, as if of supernatural origin

All of his life, people commented on his uncanny eye color. He'd started to wear a hat to shield them from curious stares when he was eight. Green, of course, didn't like his hat (what did Green like about him?) and made it his duty to swipe the hat whenever he could. Which wasn't very often, especially after Pikachu had taken to perching on it, and electrocuting people (Green) that disturbed its rest.

26. gauche: socially awkward

Green was really good at confusing Red. Green was good at a lot of things, but he was _really_ good at making a casual situation remarkably gauche. One Sunday, Green had come unusually early, and caught Red shaving by a little basin outside his cave. Green had stared a little, as if bewildered by the fact Red could grow facial hair, and then sat down to watch. Red felt his face become a touch warmer, and turned away.

"Do you shave your arms?"

Red turned to face him and stared. Green stared right back. Red shook his head.

"You're naturally hairless?"

Red shook his head again. Was Green trying to imply something?

"Oh so your legs have hair?"

Red nodded, and at last Green seemed satisfied. Green really was weird.

27. cornucopia: an abundance

The first year Red had gone up Mt. Silver, he'd had such a hard time finding food that he actually believed he'd starve. Green had only found him two years after he went into isolation, so before that he'd relied on following wild pokemon to find edible plants and survive. He finally hit the jackpot when he found a little forest sheltered from the wind that had a cornucopia of berries and mushrooms. Occasionally, he'd catch a couple fish to eat, but otherwise he grew thinner and lost any traces of fat on his body. Green had been so worried when he first visited him after hearing the first of many rumors about the trainer up the mountain. Green brought up so much food, and Red thought of protesting, but relented and let himself be spoiled. It was nice to have people care.

28. salve: an ointment that heals or soothes, a balm

The worst part of staying up the mountain was worrying about his pokemons' health. They'd sometimes fall sick, and Red would be unable to tell what the problem was. He'd desperately search the textbooks for anything he could use as medicine. Unable to find the right ingredients, he had gone down the mountain for the first time in years to bring his team to the nearest pokemon center. The nurse scolded him a little, and when she finally let him go, he went to the pokemart emptied the shelves of salves and ice heals and antidotes.

29. extract: to remove, especially with effort

When Green later asked Red whether he had ever gone down the mountain, Red did not answer. His eyes were downcast, staring at the yellow mouse yawning on his lap. Thoughtfully, he continued to scratch Pikachu behind the ear. He was afraid of Green's inevitable questions that would arise if he told the truth; "Why didn't you call me," "Why didn't you call your mom," "Do you know how much we worry," among other admonishments.

Seeing that Red was deep in thought, Green seized his chance. He swiped Red's hat and bolted out the cave. Instead of chasing, Red just stared at him. Green paused and turned when he realized Red wasn't following him.

"I'm not giving it back unless you tell me." Green spun the cap on his finger, dropped it, blushed and then sat down beside where it had fallen. Red stared. After a long silence, Green sighed.

"Does this have to be so hard?"

Red blinked. Was Green giving up so fast?

"Did you ever go down?"

Red blinked again before nodding slowly.

"Why?"

Red pointed to Pikachu who was staring threateningly at Green, sparks flashing on its cheeks.

"Can you just talk to me please, for Arceus' sake, are we playing 20 questions? Red, I don't want to feel like I come up here to interrogate you, to extract answers because I like making you feel uncomfortable. I just..." Green ran a hand through his bangs.

Red stared.

30. versatile: competent in many things

After living among wild pokemon, Red was a fairly versatile mountain man. So when Green finally gave up on waiting for a response and walked to the fire, Red gently set Pikachu aside and tackled Green. They fell to the ground in a little scuffle, and after some tussling, Red managed to get Green face down with his arms behind his back. Green was _laughing_, and after picking up his hat, Red sat on Green's back. After a Green quieted down, they just lay there in silence.

"So Red, did you-"

Red leaned over and wrapped his arms around Green, and buried his face in his hair. He could feel Green's pulse rising.

After Red stood up, he walked back to the fire and sat down, picked Pikachu up, and resumed scratching him behind the ear. Green stayed on the floor, covering his face with his hands.


	4. Chapter 4

31. adduce: to show as an example or means of proving something

When Green opened the door to see some five people staring at him. He frowned.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" The five of them exchanged glances, and one girl stepped forward.

"Uh, hi? We're your gym trainers now, um, I'm Salma, those to are Alan and Ida, he's Arabella, and that guy's Bonita. Please take care of us?"

Green stared in disbelief. His trainers looked like the kind of weirdos he'd find hiding in the grass on the side of the road. "Do you have your trainer ID's on you?"

"Yeah, here's mine. Lorelei did leave our names and ID's in the office right?"

"...Maybe? These are pretty legit, but I'll go back to double check. Here, why don't you all warm up with your pokemon, I want to battle and see all of your levels in a sec." The ID adduced that the trainers weren't just robbers trying to do something weird, but he didn't think his trainers were going to be some teenagers!

32. extol: to praise highly and lavishly

After digging through papers with no clues, Green sighed and walked out of the office. He had probably filed the papers under some forgotten cabinet. Surveying his trainers' pokemon, he was fairly impressed. None of them were even close to having a full team, but they all had decent pokemon. Nothing to be extolled though, he was fairly confident Machamp could take care of them all with a couple hits. He called out Machamp, who looked excited for a challenge.

"Who's first?"

33. interlocutor: someone who takes part in a conversation, especially formally

After taking out Arabella and Bonita, Green called for a break. They'd both done fairly well, considering their type disadvantage. Arabella was twenty, three years older than Green (he looked fifteen), and a good trainer. Bonita was seventeen (and looked older than Arabella, it was really weird) and pretty experienced. Green'd given some tips on increasing their pokemon's move-set diversity, and sat back, a little sweat on his face. His phone buzzed in his pocket. Leaf.

"Hello?"

"GREEN I was invited to be an interlocutor at this big Kanto-Johto conference for Trainer of the Year and its intermission right now so I have to leave in about thirty seconds and apparently this kid Gold recently beat Lance, and he's like Red but more annoying and he's-"

"Nobody's like Red."

"OK fine but he's currently going around Kanto challenging gym leaders so I thought I'd give you a heads up ok bye!"

34. encomium: high praise

Bonita stared at Green, his jaw slack. After a silence, he asked in awe, "You have a girlfriend?"

Green face-palmed. "No, Leaf's a childhood friend." He got that question a little too often, especially when people saw him and Leaf when she forced him to meet her whenever she happened to be in the region. "Wait, is it surprising that I'd be in a relationship?"

Bonita shook his head. "Well, it's more surprising you're not in a relationship, my sister's actually a fangirl. Can I get a signature later?"

Green nodded tentatively. More often than not, he felt his encomium was a result of his fabulous genetics as opposed to his actual battling.

35. abduct: to take way, kidnap

Over the next two weeks, Green found himself flooded with work to do. After Volkner's shipment of booby trapped tiles arrived, Green rolled up his sleeves, double checked his blueprints, smiled (evilly) and got to work arranging them. It was tedious and Green saved the work for doing after the gym closed, because he definitely didn't need anybody to stand witness to him testing out the paths (and making a general fool out of himself). After a week of boot camp training, everybody had improved drastically, and Green rarely had to take any challenges. He spent most of the daylight hours searching online for paint that would cover up the shady looking stains on the walls, looking for Gold, and looking for recipes. Arabella had helped him settle in a nearby apartment complex in exchange for a day off from training. The first thing Green noticed was the difficulty of cooking for himself.

He had settled into something of a hectic schedule, when Friday rolled by and he stared aimlessly out the open window, savoring his lunch break. Then, Leaf literally dropped from the sky outside of his gym.

"Hey! I wanted to go see Daisy so I thought I might as well bring Eevee as an excuse! I'll be back in a couple hours!" At the mention of Daisy, Eevee bounded eagerly out the window towards Leaf, who scooped her up in her arms and jumped right back on her Wigglytuff and floated off.

Green stared. Had his partner just willing let herself be abducted?

36. indelible: incapable of being removed or erased

Green got a call from Daisy just a half hour later, which entailed a lot of nagging about Eevee being too stressed and her shoulders being unusually stiff. And then some embarrassing things about her being proud of his and Leaf's long friendship and how friendships were indelible and the like. Green let his mind wander off as Daisy talked on and on and then he remembered.

Red. In two days. Sunday.

37. gauge: an instrument for measuring or testing

The sky was just beginning to darken as Green gauged it late enough to go home. Leaf had texted him saying that she's ended up staying longer than expected, and would bring Eevee first thing next morning. He was about to send an irritated reply when she sent him a (completely, heart-warmingly and fuzzy) picture of Eevee sleeping on Daisy's massage table. Feeling bubby, he'd dismissed everybody (they were more than happy to get off his training regimen early) and went home to review his recipes.

38. mercurial: easily changeable; erratic

Green cursed. That was the second wasted batch of macaroons. He swore they had something against him. The mercurial little fudgers.

39. prudent: marked by careful planning; discreet

After an especially prudent batter mixing, the macaroons finally puffed up just right. After test tasting (to make sure his creations hadn't magically spawned some evil in the baking), he wrapped them up carefully and stored them in the freezer. Sunday, Sunday!

40. cryptic: secretive or partially concealed; mysterious

Green slept all the way through the morning, and woke to the obnoxious ringing of the doorbell. He wrapped himself up in his blankets, and peeked through the eye-hole in the door.

"ARCEUS DAMMIT GREEN IF YOU DON'T OPEN THE DOOR THIS INSTANT I'LL TEAR YOUR-"

Green paled as he swung the door open. Leaf looked hardly surprised by his Caterpie-likeness, and walked in, settling on his couch. He glared a little at her, but softened at the sight of Eevee, who nuzzled his shin before jumping on to the couch to watch some drama with Leaf. _Traitor_.

Green Caterpie'd his way back to his room to shower, and pulled on some clothes. As he walked out to the little kitchen, he deadpanned at Leaf, _suffocating_ Eevee and sobbing at the TV. He sighed. Just as Red was cryptic in his silence, Leaf was confusing in her openness.


	5. Chapter 5

41: menial: lowly or servant-like

Red was surprised to see Moltres on Saturday morning when he was shoveling snow away from the cave entrance.

After exploring the mountains' caves, about a year ago, he'd found one with especially scorched and blackened walls, and had entered cautiously to see the fire bird sleeping, its tail surrounded it with a defensive circle of fire. It cracked open an eye to look at him, before tucking its head back under a wing. Intrigued, Red stepped closer and sat a good five feet away from the circle. He could feel the warmth even from that distance, and dozed a little. And since then, they'd become good friends.

So when Moltres saw him, cackled a little, and melted nearly all the snow in the cave entrance with one carefully aimed fire blast, Red suddenly found himself free of the menial chore of shoveling. His shirt was a little singed, but he suddenly thought of a great idea.

42. montage: a composite of elements; especially pictures, placed closely next to one another

Charizard turned out to be even better at controlling fire than Red expected. Red began with having him practice making the smallest flamethrower possible, and in only two hours they were able to reduce the powerful attack to a thin stream of flames no more than a foot thick. Red drew dots in the snow for Charizard to aim at, and after a while, had Charizard melt a smiling face. Satisfied, Red concluded the training session.

Charizard flew out to practice, and Red realized that the flames that looked randomly fired at the snowy canvas eventually turned out to form an enormous smiley-face. After drawing the smile, Charizard roared happily, wheeling in circles.

That evening, as he sat to watch the sunset, Red did not fail to take notice of the montage of smiling faces scattered across the otherwise pristine snowy slopes.

43. drastic: extreme; severe

Though he would never admit it, Red was a little nervous to see Green, especially after his indirect confession two weeks back. So while Charizard was busy toasting the mountain, Red went to talk to the Golbats. He spoke with Pikachu in halting phrases, and Pikachu chattered to the Golbats, translating. Red wanted to play a little prank on Green. The Golbats were all for pulling off some mischief. Hopefully that would stop Green from making the situation more awkward than it needed to be. It was a little drastic for an icebreaker (pun?), but hey, Green pulled plenty of tricks on Red when they were kids. Just revisiting a little seven year old grudge.

44. acumen: quickness and accuracy of judgment or insight

Early Sunday morning, Red found a comfortable ledge with a good view of the paths winding down the mountain, where the ambush would unfold. Settling down with Pikachu, he curled up to wait for Green. Red was about to nod off when he heard some indistinct shouting.

Green was clawing at a Golbat that had wrapped its leathery blue wings around his face, effectively blindfolding him. A couple more grabbed the edge of his jacket and flapped their enormous wings, and the brunette soon was pedaling his legs comically as they lifted off the snow and flapped, swerving in the air as Green struggles to get free. They were relieved to drop their burden in Blastoise's waiting arms.

Blastoise caught Green and placed him on his back. The Pokemon lay down on its stomach, retracting its legs into its shell. Seeing Blastoise, Green began to realize that Red was involved in the whole trick (one didn't need great acumen to guess who was involved; what were the chances of being tossed to a wild Blastoise in the middle of Mt. Silver?). However, coherent thought left his head as he clung on to Blastoise's cannons for dear life as Blastoise pushed off and sped down a slope.

45. cosmopolitan: having worldwide scope

When Blastoise reached the bottom of the hill and swerved to a sudden stop, Green screamed (in a manly manner, _definitely _not a high pitched shriek), lost his grip, and was subsequently tossed into the soft snow. After going on a ski trip with Leaf to Snowpoint north in Sinnoh one winter, Green had felt fairly proud of his mastering a black diamond course in three weeks. Leaf had taken to sledding with local kids after getting sore thighs after the first two days. Unwilling to just ski alone, he'd wandered around the city, and decided to try out the gym. After he battled Candice, she'd volunteered to teach him various snowboarding techniques. When Green returned to Kanto, he'd been fairly sure that he'd become a pretty good cosmopolitan snow person. But now he just felt a little sick. And really cold, since the soft snow had infiltrated every opening in his coat and proceeded to melt on his skin.

46. obtrude: to push forward; to impose (oneself or ideas) on others

When Red got over his silent laughter and came down to check on the unmoving Green, he was a little worried to see Green lying in the snow, staring at the sky, teeth chattering. Red, seeing Green's coat dusted with snow, stepped a little closer to pull him upright. Green grasped his hand, groaning as he pulled himself upright out of the snow.

"Hey. Did you plan this all out?"

Reds eyes twinkled.

"Y-you little..." He grunted. "I'll save complaining for later... Right now, I really need something warm cause I'm pretty much so numb I don't even feel cold anymore. Mind if I obtrude and use your bath?"

47. paroxysm: a sudden convulsion or outburst; a fit

Blastoise plodded over to pick up Green and followed Red, who walked surprisingly quickly up the slope. They arrived at Red's cave in less than twenty minutes, and Green was deposited gently beside Red. Green had never even noticed the sheltered corner branching off from the main "room," where Red had a white bath tub and a large basin, both which looked extremely clean and out of place surrounded with the craggy cave walls. Blastoise aimed a cannon at the tub, and cautiously shot out a smooth stream of water. Charizard poked a head around the wall that partially separated the "bathroom" from the larger area where the other pokemon lounged. Charizard aimed a flamethrower at the bottom side of the tub, and after about a minute of steady flames, the water began to bubble. Red nodded appreciatively to his pokemon, and the three left Green, rounding the small rock wall and giving him a little privacy.

After Green overcame his initial awkwardness and popped in the tub, he forgot any shame as the warm water heated his frozen limbs. The water was so intoxicatingly warm that he even began to nod off. So when Red poked his head around the corner (a pretty good Charizard imitation), Green had a paroxysm of surprise and nearly jumped out of his skin.

48. monolithic: massive, solid and uniform in appearance

Red brought over some folded towels and clothes and set them beside the tub, taking care to avoid eye contact. Green thanked him and tried to muster the courage to leave the warm tub.

Green tried not to notice the overwhelming smell of Red and grass that enveloped him when he dried off and put on the black shirt and jeans. Both were a little worn but in surprisingly good condition, considering that Red probably only had a few changes of clothes to go through. He rubbed his damp hair vigorously with a towel, and emerged to see Red setting the stuff from Green's backpack out to dry around the fire. His pokemon were busy in the cave entrance, building a monolithic snowman (snowpokemon?) of Blastoise, who modeled proudly. Venusaur, a little uncomfortable in the cold, sat further in the cave and occasionally ventured out to add loose leaves for scales to cover the snowpokemon's back.

49. approbation: official approval

Green glared a little at Red as he dug out his pokemon and released them to join Red's in playing in the snow. He then searched for the box of macaroons, but began to panic a little as he couldn't find them in the damp mess of supplies his bag had become. Red, seeing Green become increasingly distressed, coughed, and held up the box, already half-eaten. Green turned to look at Red, and then facepalmed.

"You ate them already?"

Red raised an eyebrow. _They weren't for me?_

Green bit his lip, refusing to let himself be embarrassed once more (not like he could stop from blushing anyhow). "...Leaf made them," he lied uneasily. "Are they good?"

Red gave a nod of approbation. Green bit his lip harder to stop the corners of his mouth from rising into a giant smile.

50. heyday: a time of success or popularity

Green sat close to the fire and leaned back on his hands, watching his pokemon frolic with Red's in the snow. Snow. "...what was that whole attack for? The Golbats and Blastoise? The ride down the hill was ok," at this Red smirked a little, recalling Green's shriek. "But why Golbats?"

Red shrugged.

"Wait, how did you even get them to help you? Those vermin are _awful_, in darker caves you can't go two feet with the whole gang of them getting pissed and attacking you." Green shuddered. One time, he got lost in Mt. Coronet and then had took a nap in exhaustion, only to wake up to a huge Golbat charging at him, its mouth wide open.

Red shrugged again, and popped another macaroon in his mouth.

"I hate Golbats."

Red nodded, savoring the sweet treat.

"...you knew that and you still got _them_ of all pokemon to blindfold me and toss me around?"

Red looked at Green. Amused eyes met frustrated ones, and Green ran a hand through his drying bangs and sighed. In _his_ heyday, defensive fangirl trainers followed (stalked) him and fought off all the wild cave pokemon trying to ambush him...


	6. Chapter 6

Do I include too many Sinnoh references? Aaah I can't help it Gen IV was my first

And light gray poffins are "overripe", they're the second best you can get and they raise all stats... i think they're supposed to be silver colored (the best poffins are golden) but they look kinda gross

* * *

51. renovate: to make new

Green walked back and forth in the cave. Even after five years of use, Red had kept the place immaculately clean, and everything seemed to be exactly the same as how he had set it up when Green had first visited three years back. The fire pit was placed at the backside of the cave, where it was safe from the occasional wind passing through. Red had a stack of blankets and coats he'd accumulated from Green and his mom consistently bringing up more, worrying for his health. The "bed" was close to the fire, but far enough to avoid any stray sparks. Beside it were neatly arranged piles of books, some worn from use and others that'd never been opened more than one or twice. Laundry hung from a cord that was fixed to the walls by _ice picks_, hammered into the wall. It also served as a kind of curtain in front of Red's "nest," a shielding it from the prying eyes of the occasional challenger.

"Do you ever thinking of renovating? Heck, that little fake Christmas tree I brought in December hasn't moved an inch from where I put it, what now, half a year ago?" He pointed accusingly at the tiny plastic thing, a foot tall with little notes from him, Professor Oak, Daisy, Leaf, Red's mom, Yellow, and even random people like Brock, Misty, Blaine, and Lance. The neat white papers were tied with colorful ribbons onto the branches of the little tree (more like a shrub).

Red looked up at him, then at the tree, then smiled and shook his head. Green was momentarily blinded by the fact Red, the impassive human-type pokemon was smiling. Green felt his cheeks beginning to redden, and then coughed and forced the giddiness down.

52. embed: to fix in a surrounding mass

Green, unable to stand blushing so many times in one day, fled to the pokemon to help work on the Blastoise. One of its cannons had fallen off, and Eevee and Pikachu were working frantically to get it back in place again. Blastoise (the real one) had gotten bored of standing, and had started to spray water on the completed portions to see if he could get ice to solidify the statue. Charizard and Arcanine had been banished from working on the statue after nearly disemboweling it twice, and they sulked with Venusaur (Blastoise had ended up washing off most of the leaves on the snow statue's back). Green looked at the mess of snow and leaves, laughed, and pitched in with his own fair share of entropy. Picking up one of the leaves in the ground, he rolled it up into a cylinder and embedded it as an eye.

53. winsome: charming, especially in a childlike or innocent way

Lunch was a chaotic affair, with Green trying to go into Red's berry storage to try to make poffins. He'd read the recipe off some magazine covering world famous chefs. Most of the people on the magazine were old veterans, but there were two kids on it; a boy wearing a hat that really looked like white hair (was his name Ruby?) and another boy whose half-lidded eyes reminded him awfully of Red. He'd looked quickly at the recipe and had remembered a good portion of it (well, ok, maybe not that much).

Green dug out some bags of flour and sugar and what not and got to work stirring the batter vigorously over the fire. The pokemon watched in awe as Green stirred in counterclockwise and clockwise directions at random intervals as if signaled by some mysterious voice in the batter. When he finished, the batter had turned into an unappetizing light gray. Even Eevee, who generally accepted Green's creations with a winsome smile, seemed non-plussed; the rest looked unsure whether to try it.

54. irascible: easily angered; quick-tempered

Green grimaced with the stares directed at him. _Are we supposed to eat this?_

He cut into the side, and a tantalizing aroma of Pecha, Sitrus, and Custap wafted out. Some pokemon looked as if they were second-guessing their initial distaste, but none stepped forward. Green picked up the little piece and swallowed it. It actually was pretty good, and he smacked his lips. Still no response.

"Wow, that was _so_ delicious. I think I might just eat it all." Green spoke in his best "impressed" voice and fake smile as he carefully cut the large poffin into smaller portions. Even with the rich smell, the ashy gray color seemed a big deterrent. ...Did Red have food coloring?

Red stepped forward and took one of the smaller slices and swallowed it in one bite and nodded in approval. His pokemon watched his every move, as if they expected him to keel over and collapse any second. As Red reached for another piece, there was a collective gasp, and all the pokemon rushed forward to seize a piece. Green, who had been trying to suppress his irascible nature sighed with relief.

55. morass: an area of swampy ground; something that hinders

After lunch, Green retired to a corner of the cave with fairly good lighting from the fire. Red and the pokemon began to settle down, weighed down and sleepy from lunch. As they began to settle around the fire huddled on various blankets Red laid out, Green opened his laptop (Professor Oak had essentially bulletproofed the thing for his fifteenth birthday) and began tackling the emails he had downloaded. Lance had agreed to letting Green accept only trainers with the other seven Kanto badges, but on the condition that Green write to all the other leaders. Which essentially led Green to trying to write seven essay-emails trying to essentially justify why he was the strongest trainer and therefore allowed to turn away weak trainers and send them back to Pewter or Cerulean. Which was extremely awkward, because he was trying to establish himself as a good person, but then also trying to say that he was better than the others. After a preliminary notice to the others, he'd been attacked with a morass of unhappy questions demanding why Green could lord it over the others. Ugh.

56. commandeer: to seize or take, especially by police or military force

Green shut his laptop after a particularly hostile video response Surge had sent. The man, obviously too frustrated to try writing out his opposition, ranted at the camera, but Green couldn't help but snicker a little when he threatened to have his Raichu "Dunderboat" his pokemon into toast. However, he did take notice when Surge promised to commandeer the Pallet Town harbors, which would effectively stop the actually worthy trainers from Cinnabar from getting to Viridian. Green punched the laptop cover in frustration (and then nursed his poor fist).

57. subside: to settle down

As the others began to awaken, Green opened his laptop again, trying to look occupied. However, his frustration did not go unnoticed. Red picked up his blanket and shuffled over to Green, plopping down beside him and looking at Green's monitor.

"Afternoon, sleepyhead. Just dealing with some gym business."

Red looked at him inquisitively.

"Lance offered me ownership of Giovanni's old gym a long time ago, and I just formally entered office a couple weeks ago. I got a ton of newbies from Pewter, so I asked Lance if I could have a rule that trainers had to get the other seven badges before battling me. He ok'ed it, but the rest of the leaders are kinda pissed that I'm allowed to do that. Ok, really pissed. Hey, watch this, Surge really hasn't changed." Green replayed the video, and Red raised an eyebrow at the lieutenants threat to close off Pallet.

After the video stopped with a none too gentle threat, Green felt increasingly irritated. He was about to go into a nice long rant about how he'd already beaten all of them before and was obviously stronger, when Red opened his mouth to speak.

"Battle them again."

Green felt the words catch in his throat. He wasn't really one for settling everything with pokemon battles, but that was a pretty good idea. Less paperwork, and more direct. He felt his anger subside as he realized the practicality of Red's solution.

58. culinary: relating to the kitchen or cookery

Green related the news to his team, and they all seemed fairly dismayed to hear his announcement. They'd been battling a ton in the recent weeks, whether it be training with Arabella and Bonita and the rest or simply crushing trainers. None of them really seemed eager to go travelling around the region again. On the other end of the spectrum, Red's pokemon looked a little put out, as they hadn't really seen anything other than mountain for a long time.

Dinner was subdued, although none protested Green's culinary skills as he dished out noodles into Red's surprisingly abundant kitchenware. Green furrowed his eyebrows. His team wasn't really excited to go travelling again, and although battling might solve his problems, he really didn't want to force them to succumb to his wishes.

59. commodity: something useful that can be used for financial advantage; a product or service that is indistinguishable from the same thing from competing sellers

Suddenly free of a load of essays, Green polished his pokeballs as his pokemon dusted themselves off, preparing to be recalled into their pokeballs. With a few minutes of thorough rubbing he could soon see his reflection in their red sheen. Despite having purchased them from store across Kanto, they all looked absolutely identical (even though each storekeeper seemed to think his or her products the best in the country), being commodities.

60. palatable: pleasant or acceptable to the taste

When Green prepared to recall his pokemon for the trip home, Red stayed his hand and took out his own pokeballs from underneath his pillow. Red recalled his pokemon one by one (probably for the first time in ages), and then held them out to Green. Green, his jaw on the floor, stared as Red plopped them in his lap, and took away his pokeballs. Green stared at Red's pokeballs; Blastoise, Charizard, Venusaur, Espeon, and Aerodactyl. Pikachu stayed firmly planted on Red's cap. Eevee, seeing the exchange, ran over to Green and jumped on his head.

Green opened his mouth to protest, but then realized that this would be the best for both their pokemon. He blinked twice, swallowed his unspoken words, and nodded in understanding. Tyrannitar, who had been quietly sitting at the darkest part of the cave (meditating with the rocks?) for most of the day, walked over to Red and Green, and hugged both. Machamp, Exeggutor, Arcanine and Pidgeot joined in the hug.

Green departed with Red's pokemon and Eevee. He promised to be back in two weeks, to fly safely, and to bring back more food on his next visit. As he left, he mused whether or not Pidgeot would find Red's food palatable. Could Red cook nice stuff too?


	7. Chapter 7

Hey i know im nerdy but i recently found this word, "etiolate" and it's a process of growing plants without light which results in thin, weak stems and i thought wow is that deep or what like the _metaphors_ a good author can use this for

somebody heed my call and write something beautiful with etiolate pls and thx

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61. subtle: not immediately obvious; hard to understand

Green called out Blastoise hesitantly. He pointed to a snow covered slope that ran smoothly down the mountain. It was fairly (ok fine, dangerously) steep, but if Green could slide down the slope in one piece it would save at least two hours of winding tunnels; having left the mountain a little late, the extra time was precious). Blastoise caught on rather quickly and gave Green time to secure himself on his shell. After deeming himself as safe as possible and praying to Arceus that he come out of the experience alive, he gave Blastoise the go-ahead nudge.

Blastoise lay down on his stomach and carefully assessed the slope. It was fairly straight and devoid of trees or boulders; however, it would entail a few sharp turns. Blastoise slowly pushed off, squinting to keep the flying snow out of his eyes.

Two minutes later, Green tumbled off Blastoise's back, shaking none too subtly. He'd almost died at least ten times in just a hundred seconds. Blastoise looked pleased, and Green was able to offer a weak smile in congratulation. Blastoise swept him up in a hug, and then gave him two heavy pats on the head.

62. judicious: wise and careful

Green recalled Blastoise and next released Charizard. The fire dragon assessed its surroundings, and looked up at the darkening skies to orient itself. Unlike Blastoise, who had been a little too eager to _freaking slide down some thousand feet of mountain_, Charizard appeared more judicious, especially as it appeared to be quite proficient in celestial navigation. When Charizard appeared ready to fly, Green tried to climb on its back. The dragon batted him off, snorting, and seized his arms before flapping its wings furiously and taking off. Green clung onto Charizard's limbs for dear life, his stomach protesting at the sudden upward acceleration.

63. quixotic: foolishly idealistic; extravagantly chivalrous; impulsive or capricious

Dangling from Charizard turned out to be less uncomfortable than expected, though Green's shoulders were definitely beginning to become sore. Despite flying at high speeds, Charizard flew extremely smoothly, and if Green could have just tucked in his shirt to stop high speed cold wind from freezing his stomach, he might have actually enjoyed the experience.

As his arms began to ache, he began to grow a little resentful. He knew that like the rest of his species, Charizard had this kind of loyalty thing going on, and only let Red on his back for flights. Green had seen Red trying struggling to get Charizard to fly with him for a long time after Charmeleon evolved. It was a quixotic thought, but Green wished he had made a greater effort to get close to Charizard. The dragon had not seemed very happy when Green commented on the dozens of half melted smiley faces. But hey, in his own defense, it did look really creepy.

64. desiccate: to dry completely

When the familiar landmarks of Viridian came into sight, Green's lips and cheeks were desiccated and bone dry from the wind. Charizard dropped him off in front of the Pokecenter. Green tried to thank Charizard, but words wouldn't form between her dry lips. He offered a hug instead, a little more hesitant and awkward that what Blastoise had given. Charizard snorted as if amused when Green cautiously wrapped his arms around the other. Green was groaning internally as he recalled the horrifically awkward school dances. Charizard slapped Green's back with his tail (hopefully a friendly gesture?) and then pressed the button on his pokeball, recalling himself. Green gaped as the red light enveloped the pokemon and then disappeared. Had pokemon always been able to do that?

65. maelstrom: a violently confused state; a very large whirlpool

Green came back to his apartment to find the door unlocked and Leaf sleeping in a mess of blankets in front of the TV, whose fluorescent light flickered tiredly. The kitchen was in a mess, as if it had been subject to some maelstrom of take out boxes and plastic bags. The TV show currently on was one of those kids' cartoons, Debonair Dragonair, that aired all day and always had a repeat on one channel or the other. Green leaned on the back of the couch to watch for a few minutes, and to his surprise, things shot up from G to at least PG-13 in a couple seconds as the cartoon dragonairs intertwined, and kissed quite intensely. Green raised an eyebrow as he switched the TV off. Kids watch this kind of stuff nowadays?

66. cajole: to attempt to persuade with flattery or insincere talk

Green trudged upstairs and into his room, and unloaded his still slightly damp backpack and Red's pokeballs on the nightstand beside his bed. He quickly noticed the absence of his blankets, and realized that Leaf had taken them all. Rubbing his temples, he slowly walked down the stairs, struggling to stay awake as he made another cavernous yawn.

Leaf had hugged the blankets around her in a death grip, and Green, too tired to wrestle her for them or start a fight, tried to cajole her into letting go of a couple. Leaf was dead to the world, and Green, sensing inevitable defeat, crawled up the stairs and picked up a coat from his closet. He flopped on the bed, curled up in fetal position underneath his coat, and promptly fell asleep.

67. astringent: severe; strong; harsh

Green woke up to the sound of Leaf yelling, presumably on the phone. 6:33 AM. As he gradually swum into consciousness, he caught several pieces of the conversation.

"WHO THE HELL'RE YOU AND-" Leaf's astringent shouting became incoherent as it was muffled by loud pot clanging. Green winced as he shed his coat and stretched out his limbs. His arms were_ sore_.

"-KINDA NAME IS ARABELLA? ARE YOU DATING GREEN?" Green stiffened a little, and grimaced. Trust Leaf to jump to conclusions like that.

68. seduce: to lure or attract; to lead astray

Green splashed his face with cold water, trying to awaken into the land of the living. As he finished brushing his teeth and shaving, Leaf quieted down, but he could still hear her talking, though in a much less hostile voice. When he came down stairs, Leaf muttered a "gotta go" and hung up the home phone.

"Morning." Green proceeded to pour himself some coffee. He needed the caffeine soon.

"How's Red?" Leaf opened the fridge and unwrapped some bread before popping it in the toaster.

"Same."

"...Arabella's definitely gay."

"Mhm." Green sat down at the breakfast table, flipping through some new emails on his phone. "Wait what?"

"His voice is hot. He said he was single, and hot guys are always either single or gay."

"...what, he try to seduce you or something?"

69. firebrand: one who stirs up trouble or revolt

Most of the emails were that had popped up while Green had been Wi-fi deprived the day before had the same underlying tone as Surge. Except for Blaine. His response had been a surprisingly cheery one. "I've always been the guy that helps the firebrand," he had laughed. "Have fun convincing the others though. Hey, we should have a rematch and check out who's been training harder. Come on over to Seafoam some time." The video recording paused, and Green did not fail to note the extra wrinkles in Blaine's forehead. After Cinnabar had erupted, Blaine'd gathered the survivors together and relocated to Seafoam. He'd probably become a lot tougher, what with constantly having to fight with the type disadvantage when crossing the ocean to ferry over supplies and donations from other cities.

70. podium: a raised platform on which a speaker or conductor stands; a lectern

Leaf munched on her toast thoughtfully. "I got quite a few calls from some pissed Gym leaders while you were gone. Heck, you probably made me house-sit just so you could run off and ignore 'em, eh?"

"It's not that," Green began. "They're not being the most cooperative people either. I'm applying for a rule to bar trainers without seven badges..." He went into another rant about his frustrations with the other leaders. "And yesterday Red told me to go around and just battle them again to show that I really am legit stronger than them."

"Well they probably aren't on best terms with you, since you pretty much swept all the gym when you were what, less than half the age of most of them? You can't expect them to just let you stand on a podium and say whatever suits you."

"But its so frustrating battling weak trainers! Of all people, you should know what I'm talking about..." Green furrowed his eyebrows. "Red also switched most of his team with me. I guess its ok since I already know pretty much everything about his pokemon, but I don't know... It'll be hard battling with his team."

Leaf twirled a finger in her hair. "Heck, you'll have no problem blasting through the gyms then. Treat them ok and everything'll be fine. Hey, I'm actually in Kanto for three weeks before I leave for Unova. I'll house-sit for you while you're gone, Viridian has some pretty nice stores. I'm expecting you to finish in less than two weeks, especially since you can just fly from city to city. Go talk to your trainers about it, and I'll book you some hotels. You should probably be able to leave by tomorrow, I have a VIP card for most places... oh, buy me souvenirs, mk? Shoo shoo, let me plan it out."


	8. Chapter 8

OMG MY COMPUTER CRASHED AND I LOST LIKE AN HOUR OF WORK UGH

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71. herald: to bear news; to announce

Green gestured with his rolled up newspaper as he tried to list the moves of all of Red's pokemon while he walked to the gym. He'd battled and tried to strategize enough against Red to have a pretty good idea of each pokemon's moved and stats; with some observation, he'd probably be able to figure out their personalities and favorite poffin flavors (he hadn't interned at Professor Oak's lab for two summers for nothing).

Normally, Green would be the first to arrive to get a head start in paperwork so he wouldn't have to stay late after closing hours. The days had been growing shorter, heralding the arrival of autumn. So when he arrived, he was surprised to see Ada and Ivan's bikes leaning against the bike rack. He glanced at his watch. 7:13. He wasn't any later than usual?

72. confiscate: to seize private property by or as if by someone in authority

Ada and Ivan were fraternal twins, and the youngest of the trainers at fourteen. Their parents were extremely successful doctors, but they'd run away to become trainers to escape the confines of their parents' names. Green was fairly fond of them, as they were like younger siblings to him. They told Green that they'd run off without a single penny from their parents and had narrowly escaped the orphanage. They'd amassed a considerable amount of money and experience, before their parents had found them and tried to take them home. Their parents had confiscated their trainer IDs and pokemon, and they'd had to start from square one to get new ones. Green really admired their determination, and could empathize with the whole "relatives overshadowing anything you do" circumstances.

73. remiss: careless in, or negligent about, attending to a task

When Green opened the already unlocked door to see complete emptiness and silence, he felt something was amiss. Carefully navigating the maze of arrows, he reached his office. Hearing whispering inside, he raised an eyebrow before swinging the door open.

The twins jumped and shoved the paper they'd been looked at into the middle of another pile lying on his desk. Way to be suspicious?

Green sighed. "What're you two doing in here?"

Ada glanced at her brother before responding. "Uh... we were looking for information about you, like your hobbies and stuff...?" Ivan looked nonplussed as the Ada's voice rose at the end of her 'assertion', as if she was asking a question. He tried to make it a little more believable. "Your birthday's in a couple months, so..."

"Four months." Green rubbed his temples. "Look, I don't know what you were looking for but I honestly don't care because nothing in here really should be of any interest to you guys. Just don't do it again, ok?" He shooed them away and mentally berated himself for being remiss in getting a lock for the office. It was fairly surprising that neither Giovanni nor Lorelei had installed one, both being secretive people. Well, it wasn't like either really every worked from the office anyways.

74. evoke: to call forth or call to mind

Green tried to flip through the stack of papers he'd seen the twins shove the paper into, but didn't catch anything interesting among the bills and notices and insurance policies. He sat down in the swivel chair and leaned back while opening the newspaper. He skimmed over the business and technology section (and there was Gramps again, this time with Prof. Juniper...) before flipping to the last pages. Shots of yesterday's "interesting" battles were laid out over the page, and Green was disappointed by the lack of recent strong trainers. As he flipped to the backside of the newspaper, he was greeted by an enlarged photo of a teenager, whose black hair poked out of a backwards cap in an impossible fashion. The kid was posing proudly in front of an enormous Typhlosion, who looked hardly injured in its battle with... was that a Gyarados?

Green scanned the caption below the photo. "Gold, despite the type disadvantage, beats pro fisherman Larry!" Ah. The Gold kid.

He looked back to Gold's face, and could now understand why Leaf had thought him similar to Red. Though Gold's huge grin was so different from Red's default expression (or lack thereof), Green could sense a likeness; maybe it was the hat. Something about Gold evoked old, old memories of a smiling Red, a Red that laughed when he saw pokemon and actually talked and spoke. Green pursed his lips, then put the newspaper away determinedly. There was work to do.

75. sacrosanct: very sacred, holy, or inviolable

Green began researching locksmiths online, but none of them were even close to Viridian; most were in Saffron and Fuchsia. He started looking up DIY locks, but soon became distracted by flashing ads and Ivan's lingering words. Birthday. Red's birthday was in a little over two weeks, August 8th. Red, Green, and Leaf had a tradition going on, where birthdays were sacrosanct and gifts always exchanged. Even when Red had been gone for years, odd gifts (sketchbooks of his pokemon and wild pokemon and mountains) always found their way to Green and Leaf, sometimes by mail but more often by pidgeot. After finding Red, Leaf had reciprocated with scrapbooks of her travels complete with notes and descriptions of new pokemon in faraway regions. Green had started sending up art supplies after discovering Red's hobby, but it was tough figuring out what to get.

76. nurture: to nourish, educate, or encourage

He began by looking for pens and pencils - those were pretty cheap and easy to get. After catching himself trying to buy bargain-price _pencils_, he felt a wave of guilt and then proceeded to look at cold-resistant paints. He found a blog by a Sinnohese painter, and skimmed through the posts. Oil paints didn't freeze in the cold, but then those and canvas were all pretty expensive. Artists in Kalos occasionally imported vodka from rural towns to keep watercolors from freezing over. He kept looking, and eventually decided on a couple oil paints and smaller canvases. Though Green had always been more of a science-oriented person, he found that skimming through blogs had nurtured his interest in arts, and he promised himself a set of art materials to work with for his own birthday.

77. scintillate: to give off sparks; to be animated or brilliant

The sound of Salma pound on his door pulled him out of his reverie as she curtly informed him that he had a challenger. Green glanced at his desktop screen and then back out the door and ran a hand through his bangs in irritation.

His challenger was a redhead (wow was that an unicorn's horn coming out of his hair?) who looked fairly irritated. As Green stepped out of his office, their eyes met, and the red head frowned. _Well isn't his attitude just scintillating_.

78. purvey: to supply

Green didn't bother introducing himself, as the redhead immediately got into battle stance with his arm raised and pokeball ready. Shrugging, Green sent out Espeon. The redhead sent out a Golbat, but appeared slightly confused. Espeon was a good strategic type (unusual for Red, whose team was mostly brutally powerful pokemon that didn't need strategy to win), with a moveset of Substitute, Calm Mind, Psychic, and Shadow ball.

Green smirked when the redhead recalled his sneasel in frustration. He looked at Green in anger and confusion. Espeon had used substitute and calm mind until it was able to one-hit KO nearly all his pokemon; the sheer difference in level was probably also a factor.

"...I'm Silver." _What, was this kid Gold's sidekick?_ "I'm trying to beat Gold in gathering the Kanto badges."

_Oh._

"Are these really your pokemon? I've researched your battles and none of the data said you had an Espeon."

Green pursed his lips. He decided to purvey an answer when Silver stared at him unblinking. Wow his eyes were... familiar? "I'm training my friends pokemon and he's training mine for a while."

"...I'll come back once you've gotten your own pokemon back. Don't let Gold beat you." Silver turned on his heel and stormed out.

"Good job getting your Golbat to evolve," Green called out. Silver halted for a moment, his shoulders rising and stiffening, and then all but sprinted out.

79. palette: a board which an artist can hold while painting and on which colors can be mixed; the range of colors used in a particular painting or by a particular artist

With no other challenger to bother him, Green retreated to his office, searching for palettes. He was at a loss over whether to choose disposable wax paper palettes or actual traditional wood or plastic palettes. He ended up ordering both - heck, if Red didn't want the traditional palette, Green would gladly take it. As he proceeded to the online checkout, he grimaced a little at the total sum (three digits?) and submitted his order.

80. entropy: a steady decline in the order within a system; disorder, chaos

The time was nearing 3 in the afternoon when Green noticed shouting in the gym. He shook his cramping hand as he strolled over to the office door and opened it.

Some seven or eight kids were running all over the booby traps, screaming and giggling as they were sent rocketing all over the gym. Bonita called out to him.

"The Viridian trainer's school was supposed to have a field trip here; they called a couple days ago when you were out on your lunch break, and I thought you'd be ok with it... They're kind of crazy but at least nobody's getting hurt?" Salma, Ada, and Ivan were busy catching the flying kids as Arabella spoke with the teacher that looked completely embarrassed. All in all, the place had undergone entropy and become a playground for terrifyingly hyper children. Green placed his hand over his eyes and sighed. According to Leaf, he'd be leaving the very next day; how in the world were his trainers going to function while he was gone? (They couldn't even handle some rowdy six year olds!) Most of them were living alone and needed their paychecks soon too, so he couldn't exactly close the gym for two weeks...


	9. Chapter 9

yeah this one is short b/c recently my chapters have been about 1.7 - 1.8k words and i really need to up the speed

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81. gamut: an entire range or series

Red woke up earlier than usual to the sound of Green's pokemon shuffling around the cave. Most of them were bewildered by Pikachu's hate of pokeballs; they rarely, if ever, slept outside the warm comfort of their own pokeballs. Red did not recall them for the night, and the mixed opinions ran the gamut of "Green's mean" and "Red's a snowman." In the night, temperatures fell drastically below what they had experienced in their daytime stays, and they huddled together around the fire, with Arcanine occasionally blasting the fire to revive dying embers.

82. draconian: extremely harsh and severe

After a quick breakfast of singed pokefood, Red led Pidgeot out for training. The rest of Green's pokemon stayed in the cave, and Machamp, ever the overachiever, began leading exercises. Pikachu climbed onto his perch on Red's cap and accompanied Pidgeot, who proceeded to walk awkwardly behind Red.

Upon reaching a large field clear of trees, Red clicked his tongue, and Pikachu jumped off his hat. Red snapped and pointed to the sky and then the a bush at the center of the field, and Pikachu charged and sent a thunderbolt to fry the plant. Pidgeot looked bewildered, but watched as Pikachu repeated his attack several more times. He began to notice for the first time that a tiny flare of static would appear above the target milliseconds before Pikachu's thunderbolt was released. Pidgeot cooed and pointed with a wing, and Red nodded. Red held out a hand to tell Pikachu to stop. Pidgeot observed curiously as Red signalled to Pikachu. Snap, point to the sky... point to Pidgeot.

Pikachu grinned (quite evilly too) and immediately charged a thunderbolt and aimed at Pidgeot. Pidgeot squawked in surprise and took off in a flurry, barely dodging the attack. Pikachu did not stop there, and took wicked glee in sending thunderbolts his way. Pidgeot did not escape the second hit, but was surprised to see that he did not feel too woozy after the super-effective attack; Pikachu was at least weakening his attacks. Pidgeot mentally thanked Red for controlling Pikachu's violent and draconian urges to fry birds, and looked around carefully to spot the next little spark signalling the direction Pikachu would aim.

By the end of some twenty minutes of dodge-the-thunderbolt, Pidgeot was exhausted, but effectively dodging about four in every five thunderbolts. Red stopped Pikachu and called Pidgeot over. He patted Pidgeot's back and fed him a Sitrus berry. Time for the next exercise.

83. commodious: spacious; roomy

When Red and Pikachu and Pidgeot came back from training at around noon, the rest of Green's pokemon were lounging about very close to or inside the commodious cave. Gyarados was curled up outside on the snow, uncomfortable with reclining on hard rock surfaces. Exeggutor sat at the cave entrance soaking sunshine. Machamp was meditating beside Exeggutor, and Arcanine was napping by the fire. Pidgeot squawked indignantly at his relaxed teammates and huffed before settling by Arcanine near the fire.

84. rank: conspicuously offensive, especially in smell or taste; complete

Arcanine wrinkled his nose at the rank smell of singed feathers. Pidgeot looked uninjured but very tired; Arcanine barked at Pidgeot, who looked just about ready to doze off. _What happened?_ Pidgeot opened one eye and glared. _Pikachu happened._ The bird then tucked his head under a wing and promptly ignored Arcanine's curious stare. Arcanine wolfed down Pidgeot's share of lunch.

85. engaging: attractive; charming

Arcanine was surprised that humans liked pikachus so much. They called their eyes engaging, their smiles adorable, and thought their cheeks to be natural signs of cuteness. So as he chased the damned mouse in a tortuous game of tag (when Red had some how gestured that Arcanine's training would be tag, the pokemon had scoffed - well know he knew better) up and down Mt. Silver, Arcanine could not help but think humans stupid. Who could find those beady black eyes charming? Pikachu were evil. Arcanine paused to catch his breath as Pikachu leaped onto a small ledge with ease. Unable to pursue the mouse, Arcanine growled and tried to think of another way to follow. Pikachu stopped upon realizing that Arcanine wasn't chasing. The mouse turned, _laughed_, and stuck its tongue out. Arcanine spat out flames. _Oh, it's on._

86. electorate: the total group of qualified voters

Red was trying decide on dinner, and the electorate wasn't very helpful; they nodded at each of the various brands of pokefood he pointed at. Did Green feed them the same stuff everyday or did he just feed them human food all the time? He knew pokemon were fond of a couple human foods, but preferred the normal stuff...

87. habitat: the place where a person or thing is ordinarily found; a particular type of natural environment

Red listened to Green's pokemon speaking over dinner. He'd figured out quite a few words from his own pokemon. As he listened, he came to the rather disappointing conclusion that because Green's pokemon were not especially chatty, they didn't know too much about Green's personal life; if anypokemon knew about Green's relationships, it'd have to be Eevee. They all eventually figured out that Green had been crushing on Red for Arceus knows how long, but didn't know how to help Green. When Red nodded as Machamp sighed over Green's lack of initiative, the rest noticed Red's response and stared wide-eyed.

_You understand?_ Red nodded again. As they continued to stare, Red looked down. Of course he'd pick up a few pokemon words when in a non-human habitat...

88. lackadaisical: showing lack of interest or spirit

After cleaning the day's dishes and taking a quick bath (Arcanine had a hard time figuring out how to heat the bathtub without making the water boil), Red took out one of his unfinished novels and sat by the fire reading. Pikachu came over and sat beside him and pored over the words, before giving up and prodding Red sharply in the thigh. Red sighed and began to read out loud slowly. He was ok with reading out loud, because nobody could complain that he was wrong or stupid; that'd be the writer's fault. Green's pokemon all looked up at hearing his voice and came closer to listen. Red was surprised; he figure that they'd be lackadaisical if anything, but they proved to be fairly attentive listeners. After finishing the chapter, he carefully bookmarked the new page and put the book down.

One of Exeggutor's heads spoke up. I_ like your voice._ The other heads agreed. The rest of Green's pokemon nodded too, and Red felt some heat rising to his face as he whispered a "thank you."

89. girth: the distance around something; circumference

As Red settled into his nest of blankets, he smiled as he heard Green's pokemon bickering quietly about Gyarados's excessive girth and his hogging the fire's warmth. Working with Green's pokemon had been easier than he'd expected, and as he closed his eyes and let sleep come, he hoped Green was having an equally good time with his own pokemon.

90. sycophant: one who seeks favor by flattering people of wealth or influence

That night, Red dreamed, or recalled happy days with Green and Leaf - days when he could make friends without being paranoid of sycophants or stalkers. Becoming champion had been a lot less fulfilling than he'd dreamed it to be; the championship had cost him a valuable friendship, and a lot of creepy people looking for his money or techniques. He'd thought that taking Green a peg down would do Green's ego a world of good, but he wasn't prepared for Green's almost breaking down when Professor Oak came to congratulate Red, and not _his own grandson._


	10. Chapter 10

yay and so the first 100/2000 are now done! 95% left to go! T-T... actually this is kind of fun so meh it's not that bad but i worry about my grammar lol i dont reread most of the time ehehe...

and yup the chapters are def getting shorter sorry?

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91. stem: to stop; to restrain

When Green and Arabella had finally managed to stem the chaotic elementary schoolers, the teacher was red as a beet with embarassment. The group left noisily, satisfied with the havoc they had wrought.

92. self-abnegation: the putting aside of personal interest for the sake of others or for a belief, cause or principle

Green decided to close the gym early to talk to his trainers about his upcoming absence. They were remarkably tolerant (not surprising, considering the Lorelei's attendance) and were confident in being able to maintain the gym during Green's leave. After all, Silver had been the first challenger to reach Green since the trainers had started working. Arabella was particularly self-abnegating, and offered to work as gym leader and take care of papers while Green was gone.

93. barrage: a heavy, prolonged attack

Green was surprised when Ada and Ivan glanced nervously at each other and then launched into a barrage of "We're really sorry for breaking into your office and we promise to take care of the gym and have a safe trip and we just wanted to find out who the girl living in your house is and yeah byebye!"

Green nodded; he'd already forgiven them that morning. "Yeah, Leaf's a childhood friend, nothing more, nothing less. Glad you confessed." He gestured to Arabella and Green showed him the badge storage and then dismissed the meeting.

94. anachronism: something not belonging to a certain time period

Green filed the last of the papers scattered on his desk and sighed contentedly. In the course of a couple weeks, he'd become best friends with his desk; it was a worn-out wooden one, an anachronism in his modern themed gym, but it had a wonderful array of drawers and little shelves for storing papers. He stood up from his swivel chair, picked up his keys, and headed home.

95. linchpin: a central element that holds other parts together

When Green came home and rang the doorbell, he heard a flurry of stomping noises as Leaf swung the door open, smiling proudly.

"I literally just finished your itinerary - here, this is going to be the linchpin for your trip; you lose it, you waste a couple hundred bucks. I booked you some nice hotels so don't glare at me... what, of course I used your credit card." Leaf shoved a neatly stapled packet into his hands and turned, skipping out of the doorway. Green grimaced. When in the world did Leaf take his credit card?

96. rancid: spoiled or rotten (especially oils or fats)

Green ordered pizza (pineapple, per Leaf's demands) and found that he'd run out of plates. He opened the dishwasher, and wrinkled his nose as a rancid odor came out. He'd stacked everything that morning, but had forgotten to turn the dishwasher on.

"Leaf, you know how to use the dishwasher right?"

Leaf glanced over at him from the couch and snorted. "Course I do. You think I'm stupid?"

"Uh, I'm tempted to say yes. Wash the plates when I'm gone please, and stop ordering take-out from my credit card and figure out how to cook. There's plenty of groceries in the fridge and they're going to go bad if I don't use them soon."

"Ok, ok... You nagging mom." Leaf laughed playfully and turned her attention back to her phone.

97. atavistic: reverting to past traits, especially to traits absent for a long time

After eating dinner (he'd seen evidence of Green's hunger but was impressed by her downing more than half of the pizza), Green went to his room and began packing a backpack with essentials. A couple hyper potions and full heals never hurt; Green doubted he'd need any though. He hardly needed anything actually; he'd only packed his laptop, his phone, and their respective chargers. He indulged in an atavistic memory of the day before he'd left for his first adventure... Daisy had made him pack so many things that he'd never even used, like letters, stamps, a tiny mushroom, mulch (did she honestly think he would be the type to grow berries in his free time?) from another region, and a ton of stat raising medicines. Heck, those were temporary, and if one needed them than he or she wasn't training enough...

98. craven: cowardly; contemptibly timid

As Green came back to the kitchen to pack a reusable water bottle, Leaf stared at him.

"I forgot to ask you since you ninja sneaked in last night, but how's Red?"

Green raised an eyebrow. "Good?"

"Ugh, no, how're you two getting along?"

"...Good?"

"Oh my Arceus, Green. Have you two kissed yet?"

Green spluttered.

"You haven't? You craven excuse of a..." Leaf muttered something under her breath.

99. hermetic: completely sealed, especially from entry or escape of air

Green flushed. Was he that obvious, or was Leaf just that good at reading him?

"...How, or when did you figure out I liked him?"

Leaf scoffed. "Puh-_leeze_, I'd notice if my two best friends were trying to, you know, hook up." Green choked again. "Unlike you, a nerdy kid raised in a hermetic lab to study whatever Oak made you study, and Red, an oblivious kid who probably has yet to read a trashy romance novel, I actually have a social life and a clue at what's going on."

100. placid: calm, undisturbed

"...You're not creeped out or anything?"

"Why the hell would I be creeped out? Heck, you two have probably had the, I don't know, the Luvdiscs for each other since we were what, five? I've adjusted, don't worry," Leaf said placidly. "You better not be cheating on Red with whatshisface Bella... Arabella. Red's birthday's coming up soon, so you better get your ass back here when you finish your gym business."

"Ok." Green turned to go back to his room. "And thanks. You can sleep on my bed when I'm gone if the couch is too uncomfortable."

Leaf wrinkled her nose. "Nah, that's reserved for Red, I'm fine here. G'night."

Green struggled to regain his composure to respond with a choked out "Good night." Leaf giggled.


	11. Chapter 11

Morning classes are over so I'm going to try to up the update speed

oh my arceus how am i supposed to finish all 2000 by October

I felt accomplished when I finished 100 but wtf there's still 95% left? short chapters short chapters

and omg i just finished reading this amazing fanfic (In Ruins) this morning and aaaaaaaaaaah fuzz I wish I could write

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101. infinitesimal: exceedingly small; minute

Green woke up at 6:00 AM sharp, his eyes flickering open as he reached over to shut off his alarm just as the radio popped and the first indistinct buzzing began to sound. He felt a strange, even childish sense of elation, something inexplicable that seemed to flow from each and every single one of his millions of infinitesimal cells. He felt impossibly light and unreasonably bubbly as he walked to his bathroom to wash up, and even began humming along as the obsessive violinist next door began playing.

102. variegated: distinctly marked with different colors; diverse

The window in the kitchen let in variegated hues of light as early sunshine poured through the leaves and into the room. Outside, pidgeys were already awake and cooing, and Green was tempted to make bird noises out the window in response. Their songs filtered through the window, and as Green watched the pancake batter begin bubbling in the pan, he felt a warm sensation in his chest, not unlike the bubbles that appeared and popped cheerily as the pancakes solidified.

103. erratic: inconsistent, unpredictable

By 7:00 AM Leaf had still not woken, even with Green crashing around the kitchen and singing. When he walked out to the yard to release Red's pokemon and Eevee, they opened bleary eyes ad stared at him as he all but skipped as he dished out their breakfast. As Green picked up his backpack and made his bed, he briefly considered how in the world Leaf hadn't woken up yet. He knew that her sleeping pattern was erratic (probably because her Circadian rhythm was all messed up, maybe even permanently from jet lag), and decided to just go ahead and leave. He scribbled down a note and, laughing to himself, taped it to her forehead. He tiptoed away holding his breath, and when Leaf did not stir, he quietly unlocked the front door, shouldered his backpack, and left.

104. venial: easily excused or forgiven

Green considered asking Charizard for a lift to Pewter, but in recalling his soreness from the flight home from Mt. Silver, he decided against it. Though he understood charizards' traditions and had forgiven Charizard, his arms and shoulders had not deemed the flight venial. He released Eevee, who looked excited to be out on a walk (_finally_), and pulled out an empty pokeball. Now, if he could catch a polite Pidgeotto in Viridan Forest and ask for a ride...

105. zeal: intense passion or enthusiasm

After leaving the quiet outskirts of Viridian City and reaching the forest, Green was in such a euphoric mood that he didn't feel the slightest bit bothered when he saw a bug catcher poke his head out of the bushes and challenge him to a battle. The kid (What did he introduce himself as? Abner? Anner? Abber?) was a little put out when Charizard toasted his butterfree and beedrill; however, when he sent out a _pikachu_ with the zeal of any trainer in a tough battle and down to his or her last pokemon, Green and Charizard froze, and then chortled with laughter. Nothing could compare with Red's monstrous electric mouse, and with a single dragon pulse, Charizard blew the pikachu away.

106. peer: a person or thing of the same rank

Abner recalled his pikachu dejectedly, but Green smiled and thumped the kid heartily on his back. Abner smiled in reluctant acceptance of defeat before handing over a couple bills and disappearing into the brush. Green continued marching on through the tall grass (he used to avoid it like the plague; wild pokemon were such a pain sometimes) in search of a pidgeotto. He encountered nothing more than a couple of Abner's peers, and easily toasted the others' beedrills and kakunas and weedles and butterfree and ariados and metapods (Ugh were metapods persistent).

107. olfactory: relating to the sense of smell

After only two hours of wild-pokemon-free walking, Green realized he'd almost walked through the whole forest and had yet to be confronted by a single wild pokemon. After spotting a pidgey, he jogged over to challenge the pokemon; the bird flew away, terrified, and Green glanced over at Eevee, who shrugged. Green called out Espeon, asking him to use his superior olfactory senses to find pokemon that were hiding in the trees (also because Charizard was terrorizing the pokemon).

108. divulge: to reveal or make known

After cornering a pidgeotto who cowered as Espeon threatened to zap it with a psychic attack if it tried to run, Green finally caught the bird pokemon he'd needed. However, his mooded soured a little at the unpleasant capture. Green let Pidgeotto out of her pokeball, and she immediately fluttered away from him. After alternate coaxing and wheedling (and bribing with pokefood), Pidgeotto divulged that she had recently hatched four pidgeys and really could not go on an adventure at the moment.

109. conducive: tending to bring about

Green really did not understand most of what Pidgeotto was trying to say, though her chattering, nervous bird-calls gave him the gist of _I really can't do this_. Green sighed, as he rarely encountered female pokemon, and his old captures generally were conducive to excitement and not apologies. Green released the bird and kept walking.

Just as he reached the final stretch of the forest, a large male pidgeotto swooped down and landed in front of him. Green pulled out Espeon's pokeball and prepared to throw, when he realized that the male bird wasn't challenging him to a fight. The bird squatted on the road, closed its eyes, and just sat there. Shrugging, Green tossed an empty pokeball at the bird, who let himself be captured without resistance. Green immediately let the bird out of his pokeball, and looked at him questioningly. The pidgeotto pointed at a tree behind him, where the female pidgeotto cooed back softly. Green eventually understood that the female pidgeotto's husband had offered to give Green a ride around the country and Green nodded appreciatively.

110. odyssey: a long, adventurous journey

Around noon, four hours into his odyssey, Green reached the smaller buildings surrounding Pewter. Though its population was about the same as that of Viridian, the people were distributed in houses scattered around the expansive area. Some houses were located conveniently by the main roads, while others looked down from their perches on large ledges of the surrounding mountains. After walking through the streets, observing the strangely familiar roads, Green went to the Pokecenter to rest up and eat. It was already time to battle Brock.


	12. Chapter 12

holy crap this thing is over 1k words per chapter which is 1k words per 10 prompts which will be at least 200k for 2000 prompts

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111. negotiate: to succeed in going over, coping with or accomplishing

Green frowned a little as he poked at his lunch. The Pokecenter gave really cheap lunches, and though the portions were large enough, Green did not feel up to eating so much rice porridge. Trying to put his mind off of the unappealing porridge, he planned his challenge against Brock. ...Brock's type choice was kind of bad, to be honest, as either Blastoise or Venusaur would be more than capable of mowing down his pokemon. Green forced down a couple more mouthfuls of porridge before leaving.

Green smiled as he negotiated the way-too-simple "maze" Brock had set up. When he arrived at Brock's challenge platform, he grinned at Brock's confusion.

112. submissive: willing to obey without resistance; docile

"Hey... Long time no see?" Brock offered tentatively.

"Yeah. You know, let's skip formalities. I'm going around collecting all the gym leaders' signatures so nobody can complain that I'm unfair."

"...You're doing it by force?"

Green shrugged. "Words and Surge don't really mix. Let's make this a quick one." Green released Venusaur and Brock grimaced.

"Dude... that's overkill, you know how many kids come and give my buddies a hard time with just politags?"

Green laughed. "Venusaur, use Giga Drain." Venusaur rolled his eyes - just a razor leaf would probably be adequate - but was submissive. One by one, Graveler, Rhyhorn, Onix, Omastar, and Kabutops fell. Brock forced a smile and signed Green's petition.

113. encumber: to burden or weigh down

Brock looked hardly encumbered with sadness or frustration at his defeat; he took it fairly well, and waved as Green left. Green furrowed his eyebrows. Really, who actually trained and had strong pokemon and competed seriously these days? Green hadn't battled much in the years between the battle at Indigo League and being inducted into his position a couple weeks ago, but he was still able to defeat people without much problem. Is this how Red felt, stuck up the mountain waiting for a decent challenger?

114. endeavor: a serious attempt or effort

Since defeating Brock had been far less of an endeavor than Green had remembered, he spent his afternoon browsing through stores of overpriced trinkets made from precious and semi-precious stones mined from both the local area and Mt. Moon.

115. inextricable: incapable of being solved or untangled

Green looked through an array of supposedly ancient pokemon embedded in amber. Most of the pokemon were tiny, _tiny_ bugs that were probably so fragile as to be inextricable because of fear of them shattering upon opening the amber. With the storekeeper's consensus, Green let Aerodactyl out; the dinosaur attracted a lot of attention, and it sat patiently as the customers at the store and the storekeeper stroked its back in awe. The dinosaur seemed perplexed as Green discussed the ancient pokemon restoration project avidly with the storekeeper, and could not make head nor tail of "DNA extraction... organ recreation, trigeminal and cranial nerve difficulties..."

116. scruple: a moral principle that restrains actions

It was one Green's scruples to not ask or pry information (a fellow intern had one complained and Green had been extremely self-conscious of his wording to his peers ever since). However, he had no rules to stop people from willingly telling him information. He was amazed to see that since the first three discoveries around six years ago (Omastar, Kabuto and Aerodactyl), scientists across the world had used similar techniques to find various other fossil pokemon. He was absorbed in a magazine the storekeeper offered him with a documentation of new equipment and all successful experiments (there was a surprising consistency of about two unique fossils per region: Cradily, Anorith, Craniados, Shieldon, Tirtouga, Archen, Tyrunt, and Amaura).

117. antediluvian: very old; outdated

Green recalled the equipment that had been used in the first restoration project - he'd downloaded pictures of it onto his phone to look back on the even proudly. However, comparing it to the kind of machines used in Unova and Kalos, he felt that Kanto's technology was quite sadly antediluvian; he lamented the lack of funds for scientific research in Pewter and the storekeeper agreed.

118. innate: possessed at birth; inborn

When Green left the shop, he felt vaguely awkward in not having introduced himself or even asking the storekeeper's name, but focused on Aerodactyl's behavior. The dinosaur was currently ogling an amber necklace Green had purchased and placed around its neck. He cawed happily, and Green patted Aerodactyl on one of his bony wings. Aerodactyl had refused to leave without Green buying the necklace; maybe he was feeling some innate connection to the amber, and just was happy to have a remnant of a species of its former time. Whatever Aerodactyl was thinking, he was happy, and that was good enough for Green. It made a good excuse too, as he bought another one for Leaf.

119. hedonist: someone who seeks only pleasure

That night, after wandering the streets to find his hotel and a _porridge restaurant_ (porridge really was a Pewter thing), Green retired to his room. The room was in a way excitingly unfamiliar, and he tried to note where the trash cans and chairs were so he wouldn't happen to stumble on a hypothetical midnight trip to the bathroom. He lay on his bed and closed his eyes, smelling the dusty air.

Green's jangling phone startled him as he fumbled it out of his back pants pocket.

"Hey! How's Pewter? You found the hotel right?"

"Everything's ok. Have you seen the fossil pokemon from Unova?"

"OH MY GOSH YESS Archeops is sooo cute! D'you have a favorite?"

Green snorted. "Unlike Gramps, I'm not a hedonist that has all the money and time to spend visiting labs across the world."

"Hey, that's rude, I travel too!

120. rote: mechanical memorization, often without full understanding

As if just to frustrate Green further, Leaf listed off the pokedex descriptions of all the fossil pokemon (probably by rote). He groaned and cut her off in the middle of "Armaldo's claws can cut through anything" to say good night and hung up.

Red's pokemon had been fairly cooperative, but Green was sure that they missed Red. What about his own pokemon? Did they miss Green? As if sensing his discomfort, Eevee crawled on top of Green's head and plopped down over his eyes. Green tried to relocate the pokemon as a hair got in his eye. He definitely was not tearing up.


	13. Chapter 13

Uh I promise eventually we'll eventually get to life together but for now pls deal with the life apart

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121. byproduct: a side-effect; something produced in the making of something else

Green found that a byproduct of yesterday's buoyancy was a heavy lethargy that utterly consumed him the next day. He'd forgotten to set the alarm on his phone and consequently woke up at nine; even with the extra hours of sleep he was overcome with apathy and could not find the spirit to even eat breakfast. Brock had been... disappointing to say the least. According to Leaf's itinerary, the next stop would be Cerulean, and he should have left an hour ago...

122. liable: legally obligated; likely (with reference to an unfavorable outcome)

Green hastily checked out of the hotel, grabbing a muffin and an apple from the breakfast table before speed-walking out. He called out all the pokemon and hurriedly dished out their food. Pidgeotto was at first awkward and uncomfortable with joining, but eventually was convinced by his hunger. After a quick feeding, Green recalled everybody and climbed onto Pidgeotto's back, commanding it to fly.

Green soon discovered that not all pokemon of the same species were at the same level of flying; this pidgeotto in particular was particularly liable to making sharp turns, nothing like the graceful flight of his Pidgeot. Holding on to Pidgeotto's feathers tightly, Green forced his stomach down as it churned with a sudden drop in speed as Pidgeotto a second to assess the best path around Mt. Moon.

123. august: inspiring awe or admiration, especially because of high rank or character

Pidgeotto began flying even slower to join a flock of enormous pidgeotto also flying east. Green was at first twitchy in the august presence of at least twenty huge pidgeotto surrounding his relatively small one, but gradually became frustrated as Pidgeotto began flying slower and slower to accommodate the flock's slower pace.

When their course diverged from that of the flock, Green sighed in relief as Pidgeotto began picking up speed at last. About thirty minutes later, the inlet from the north sea became visible, and he picked out the Pokecenter's bright orange roof as they grew closer. Cerulean located in a fairly flat area with nothing to block the smell of ocean blowing over from the northeast.

124. discreet: careful about what one says or does; circumspect; done, said, or placed so as to attract little notice

As Green studied his itinerary, he idly noticed that Leaf had planned two days for each city with a female gym leader (Cerulean, Celadon, Fuchsia, and Saffron) and one day for each city with a male leader (Pewter, Vermilion, and the Seafoam Islands). He was unsure if Leaf was trying to keep him away from men or just thought women were tougher to convince or what... However, it was a really discreet way to show gender bias, so he had to hand it to Leaf. Women were sometimes frighteningly acute and incomprehensible.

125. egregious: outstanding for undesirable qualities; remarkably bad

Having arrived fairly early, he decided to kill some time exploring the water's pokemon with Blastoise. Leaf had planned a visit with Mewtwo, but the intense aura made Green fairly uncomfortable; he decided to put that last on the list of things to do. Besides mildly traumatizing sledding with the turtle, Green hadn't had time to spend just relaxing with Blastoise. Blastoise was fairly casual about Green hopping on his back as they swam around in the inlet. The water's diversity was egregious - there was literally nothing but goldeen, magikarp, and the occasional seaking swimming about. Green ended up stopping outside Cerulean Cave and walking in to check on Mewtwo.

126. benevolent: characterized by doing good

Unlike the first time he'd entered the cavern, the wild pokemon were fairly benevolent and didn't bother him (maybe it was just Blastoise scaring them all off like Charizard did at Viridian Forest). Green vaguely recalled the path Red had shown him through the winding cave, and after an hour or so of negotiating dead ends and underground lakes, he found Mewtwo, eyes closed and seated between the exact same two boulders he'd been waiting at the previous visit.

127. idyllic: pleasing and simple

Though the cave was certainly dark and not the most homey place, light from luminescent mushrooms reflected off large, translucent blue crystals, bathing the cave in fluorescent light. Green let out the rest of Red's pokemon, and together they sat a respectful distance from Mewtwo and joined in the quiet meditation. It reminded Green of quieter days with Red, and he felt a sort of peace just sitting beside some of the strongest pokemon in all of Kanto. It was oddly idyllic, and as Mewtwo seemed content with silence, Green did not think to offer any noise.

128. preposterous: absurd; ridiculous, senseless; irrational

Green didn't realize when he'd fallen asleep, leaning on Venusaur, but when he woke up, Mewtwo was staring right at him - not threateningly (he was fairly adept at reading stares, credits to Red), but not exactly in a completely welcoming manner either. Green blinked sleep from his eyes; it'd been a remarkably peaceful, dreamless rest. His rear end was probably frozen solid from the cold ground, but hey, at least he hadn't been ripped to shreds by psychic powers in his sleep.

"Preposterous." The sudden presence of Mewtwo's voice in his head startled Green. And then it clicked; Mewtwo was a _legendary_ and a _psychic_; of course he could speak telepathically.

"I would not hurt a friend of Red."

"...cool."

"But I would like my space to myself, thank you very much." Mewtwo huffed as he cast a disapproving glance at Red's pokemon sprawled out over _his_ floor.

"Sorry, we'll leave." Green stood slowly, and recalled Red's party. "Anything you need to tell Red?"

Mewtwo paused in thought. "...Tell him 'thank you.' It was nice to see his pokemon, if not he himself. I am doing well."

Green nodded and left quietly. It was somehow incredibly... soothing, or inspiring in a way to see such a tortured pokemon reach such peace and content in solitude.

129. sanction: to give official approval to; to penalize for violating a moral principle or international law

The magic of Cerulean Cave faded as Green exited the cavern and was blinded by late afternoon sunlight. The innocent calls and bustling of the city could be heard even across the inlet, and Green felt his thoughts and worries piece back together when remembering that he had a challenge to make.

Misty had been one of the leaders most opposed to his idea. Her no-nonsense email kind of worried Green that she'd refuse to sanction and sign the petition even if he beat her in a battle.

130. shirk: to put off or avoid performing (a duty or responsibility)

Green arrived at her gym around 5:30 PM, hoping to make the battle as quick as the one he'd had with Brock. However, his hopes were dashed when she saw him went into an all out rant.

"See Green, this is why I can't agree that you're the strongest because you do whatever you please, shirk your duties and ignore the rest of our feelings..." Green deadpanned, letting her words flow over her head. He only tuned back in when she got into battle posture. "You can't hope to beat me! My style is an all-out offensive that'll rip your sneaky strategies apart! Go Golduck!"


	14. Chapter 14

Sometimes i think to myself and im like

wow wtf was i thinking 2000 prompts in 80 days

and i have what like 1860 left for 70 days now

that's 27 prompts a day which is pretty much three chapters a day which is pretty much insane

...

yolo

* * *

131. insuperable: impossible to overcome

Venusaur was able to take care of Misty's Golduck and Quagsire, but Lapras and Starmie were a different matter. Green crossed his fingers and switched Venusaur out after it'd used a sludge bomb and a giga drain, but took a severe ice beam. He then switched out to Espeon, had him make a substitute and use calm mind until Lapras fainted from poisoning. Espeon's substitute broke when Starmie shot a particularly strong water pulse, but by then Espeon was ready, and launched a powerful shadow ball.

Misty refused to admit that Green was insuperable, but accepted her loss grudgingly. She glared at Green as she struggled to contain her anger; she found that it helped if she channeled it into the pen she signed Green's petition with. When Green left the gym with daggers glaring into his back, he tilted the petition and found that if he looked carefully he could see indentations where Misty had all but scratched out her name. Violent woman.

132. forage: to search for food or provisions

Green went to the Pokecenter to check out the local food, and was dismayed to find that the food was still porridge, but this time, bean porridge. He scowled and walked through Cerulean's quiet streets, looking for some restaurant. Eevee seemed equally eager to eat and joined him in foraging for food by sniffing the air and prancing off.

133. hirsute: having excessive body hair

Eevee led him to an underground, shady looking bar, both highly unexpected and completely expected for such a quiet, "orderly" city; the local party freaks probably had congregated to form the club in some back alleyway that Misty'd probably never think to check. Eevee was nearly drooling as she skipped inside, and Green had to agree that the smell of stir-fry and roasting meat was _heavenly._ He sat down at the farthest seat closest to the wall, shading his eyes and avoiding the curious gaze of the party-goers. He really did not need to be recognized here of all places.

The bartender, a cheery but somewhat hirsute man in his thirties, saw his discomfort and led him to the much more friendly ground floor restaurant setting. Green again settled for a corner seat and skimmed the menu. He ordered one of the various stir-fried noodles and dug in heartily, until he saw an innocent looking hair lying on top of a noodle. He choked.

134. rancorous: bitter and resentful

After Green finished his wholesome meal (making sure to double check for hairs before eating), he relaxed into his chair and flipped through one of the numerous gossip magazines lining the shelves that ran along the walls of the restaurant. All the news seemed distant to him, and stories of cheating husbands and rancorous wives did not interest him.

135. gruesome: causing horror; frightful and shocking

Bored out of his mind with the magazines, Green looked at his bill and pondered a reasonable tip. The food had certainly been delicious, and the hairy man was certainly a nice guy, but the fact that he might have eaten a _thirty year old's arm hair_ was rather gruesome. He settled with a ten percent tip and wiped his mouth with a napkin, now prepared to leave._  
_

136. strut: to walk with a proud, arrogant bearing

Three girls, almost identical in facial structure and height, strutted in that moment. Green found that he could only tell them apart by their bright orange, pink, and blue hair color. Their faces were familiar, but he'd never seen any of them before...

He keyed in on the gasps and murmurs around him. "It's the water flowers of Cerulean!" "The former gym leaders! They're so pretty, it makes you wonder what happened to Misty." Green raised an eyebrow at this - Misty was related to them? He stared at the blue-haired one and began noticing the similarities in facial structures.

137. eulogy: a speech or written tribute in praise of someone who has died

The blue-haired girl apparently caught his stare, and smirked back. Green turned to grimace into his napkin in distaste. The trio settled in the table next to his.

"Misty was a great gym leader, wasn't she Violet?" The orange haired girl spoke too loudly.

"It's such a shame her record was so bad though, I guess it's time for us to take authority, isn't that right Lily?"

"Come _on_, Daisy, you know I hate working in the gym, battles suck!" Green frowned - he hated people that had the same name as his close friends and family; it was so confusing and frustrating, especially since his Daisy was definitely not a orange haired _slut_. These girls were assholes too; they formulated a sarcastic eulogy for Misty (had they seen her defeat or something?), and suddenly Green was able to sympathize with and understand Misty's... volatile nature.

138. leery: suspicious, distrustful

Green abruptly stood and walked out of the restaurant, and one of the sisters glanced at him and _winked_. He bolted out the building and sucked in the fresh, non-stir-fry smell and slowed his pace down to a walk, keeping an eye out for the hotel name Leaf had listed. When he reached the humble building, he was surprised to see Misty checking in as well. He had half a heart to say hi, and was about to do so when she turned around and glared at him. He pursed his lips and walked up to the counter.

"Your sisters are assholes."

Misty's dark, leery face immediately brightened a little. "Yup."

139. laden: loaded; burdened; afflicted

"...Why are you checking into a hotel in your own city?"

"Trying to escape said assholes. Every time I lose a battle, they go to the bar to party and celebrate and pick up guys and then come home drunk an-" Green coughed.

"Sorry that was getting personal fast. Um...are you ok?"

Misty snorted. "Yeah, I'm just laden with some serious family problems and I'm being consoled by the person that's causing today's problems."

140. inalienable: not able to be taken away or transferred to others

"...Uh sorry? Well... oh, I heard one of your sisters talking about taking your place at the gym. Isn't that illegal? Gym ownership is inalienable unless the challenger can beat the leader in under five minutes, and even my battle took at least six minutes."

"Once upon a time, they used to be the beautiful, and really crappy, gym leaders of Cerulean; then Lily got bored, and they let me challenge them and I wiped the floor with them but they wouldn't admit it and just said they let me win... they think I'll let them take the leadership whenever they feel into it. They'll tell my dad or booby trap the house or something so I can't challenge them." Misty growled.

Green accepted his key from the lady behind the counter. "Uh, well, if they do take the leadership than I'll have to thrash them too right? How about this, I'm pissed since one of them is called Daisy and you're pissed because I beat you and caused the whole shebang, so what if tomorrow, I just beat them in under five minutes and then hand you back your title and we call it even?"

"...Fair enough. No mercy on them, ok."


	15. Chapter 15

anybody else loving glitchxcity or happydragonite on youtube omg glitchxcity's "kanto trainer battle dance remix" memories and beatsbeatsbeats

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141. cleave: to split with a sharp instrument; to cling

Unlike the hotel in Pewter, the one in Cerulean had a very cozy and familiar feel to it. It was already fairly late, so Green decided it'd be ok to change into his pajamas and throw his clothes into the laundry machine (hey, he was traveling light so he only had two changes of clothes besides his pjs). The laundry room was empty, so he took the liberty of taking a nap by the gently humming drying machine.

Of course, just when he just got to the part of the dream where he'd eat Red's cake, Leaf called him to cleave his happy dream in half. He picked up his phone sleepily.

"How was Mewtwo? I haven't seen him in ages!"

"Mmm."

"Green?"

"Mmhm?"

"...I'll call you back later."

"Mmhm." He hung up and tried to doze off, but he noted only 2 minutes left on the laundry machine and decided against it. He dully stared at the blinking countdown, and winced when the machine beeped at some ungodly high pitch. He scooped out his clothes, savoring the warmth, and then trudged back to his room.

142. annul: to make void or invalid

Upon reaching his hotel room, Green showered and was all for turning in early. However, as usual, Leaf annulled his desire to sleep. He resisted the slightly violent desire to crush his phone as he swiped the screen to pick up her call.

"You awake now?"

"Mhm."

"Guess not. You know, I went to check out your gym, and your trainers are nice."

"Mhm."

"Arabella's gay."

"Mhm."

143. gregarious: seeking and enjoying the company of others; tending to move in a group

"You won't get mad at me right?"

"..."

"Ok, I went in and beat all your trainers and became substitute leader but then I got beat by this redhead kid so I offered him a badge but he didn't take it."

"..."

"You can't blame me for being a little gregarious right? I've been stuck watching cartoon dragonairs make out on TV, I needed to do something!"

"..." Green moved his finger over the end call button.

"The kid's pretty strong, but he'd said he'd wait to challenge you and not me. Hey have fun relax and let me take care of things, gnight, you slaking!"

144. entourage: a group of attendants or followers

Green promptly passed out dead to the world, and woke up the next morning feeling very refreshed. He changed into normal clothes and carefully folded his pjs while thinking of what to do that day. Honestly, if it was up to him, he'd be alright and happy to just sleep in the whole day, maybe challenge the annoying sisters, probably eat, and then sleep some more. Of course, Leaf had something planned - a bike trip up north to say hi to Bill, who was apparently just back from Goldenrod in Johto.

But first things first - he set his clothes neatly on the nightstand so that the room cleaners wouldn't move his stuff everywhere when cleaning. He went downstairs to eat the breakfast offered in the lobby, and rejoiced in his new found energy. His day was looking pretty bright, when outside, the Cerulean sisters paraded by with their entourage of fans asking for signatures and whatnot. They had fans. Which meant that if he challenged the sisters earlier, their creepers would be on his tail for the rest of the day. Ok, well that was going at the end of his schedule.

145. pungent: sharp to the smell or taste

After waiting for several minutes, Green thought it safe to leave the building unnoticed, and headed to the bike shop. The old man was still there, working in the pungent smell of motor oil and machinery. The old man seriously must have had something with the smell, because Green honestly saw no reason to use _motor oil_ to make bike gears run smoother, but to each his preferences. The shop owner greeted him cheerfully.

"Hey, if it isn't... oh yes, Green! A very long time, uh time, since we last met...et! Plant-girl, um, um, Leaf! She wants you to borrow bike, choooooose!"

The old man was probably at least eighty something, and Green was pleasantly surprised that the store owner actually remembered him (and didn't call him Blue!).

146. decor: a decorative style or scheme, as of a room

Green hadn't biked in ages, but was able to ride his rented bike smoothly enough; Eevee refused to sit in the basket at the front of the bike after crossing the bridge north of the city, and instead chose to ride on his head, whooping and making all sorts of weird noises at wild pokemon. Green arrived at Bill's house in a laughing mess, and struggled to compose himself before entering.

The decor of his messy house had hardly changed, though Bill himself appeared far more sophisticated than his previous, geeky self. Bill was happy to show Green how Rhydon, Alakazam, and Heracross were all doing in the PC. Bill's private PC was far more advanced than the ones in the pokecenters, and even allowed for communication between the trainer and his pokemon stored in Professor Oak's enormous ranch. The whole system seemed a little unnecessary though, since Green could just hop on south down Route 1 anytime to check on his pokemon.

147. benediction: blessing

Bill offered lunch, and the two chatted over rice and beans about the news of obsessive pokemon liberators in Unova hacking PC's and releasing thousands. When the two ran out of scientific news and research to catch up on, Green mentioned his challenge with the Cerulean sisters. Bill's attitude soured.

"Those arrogant missies insulted kimono girls, saying that water ballet is the new thing and kimono dance is outdated. I'm giving you my benediction so make sure to crush them! And remind them that kimono girls are better!"

"Uh, ok. It actually is a little late so I guess I'll go?" Green really did not need to hear Bill's secret kinkiness so...

148. fervent: passionate; eager; earnest

Upon returning to Cerulean, he found Misty pacing in front of the bike rental. When she heard his bike wheels humming, she faced him and shouted fervently.

"Where were you all morning? I need my position back, can you just beat my sisters up already?"

Green slowed his bike to a halt and dismounted. "Sure? If you'll fight off the fanboys?"

149. jeopardy: risk of loss or injury; peril

Misty face palmed. "Is that all you worry about? My name, my job is at jeopardy here? And Brock said he come over tomorrow..."

"Wait, you and Brock are together? Since when?"

Misty flushed. "That's none of your business, just hurry up and beat them already!"

"Ok ok, I'm on it... If I wake up to fanboys with axes then you better send Brock on them, he's tough as rock, eh?"

150. unassuming: modest; not pretentious

Green walked to the gym, hoping that the girls would wear something a little more unassuming than the dresses they wore that literally hid none of their legs and were dangerously short. The girls seemed excited to see him, so Green covered his eyes and whispered for Venusaur to make quick work out of the weak Goldeen and Seakings and Shellders. Venusaur looked disapprovingly at the girls' immodesty and took down all the fish with a couple razor leaves each.

"Uh yeah, you all lost in... 1 minute, so I have authority? And I'm returning leadership to Misty?" Green tried to ignore the weird stares from the fanboys standing around the edges of the gym, apparently there to cheer. Ugh, Green didn't even swing for these kind of girls. Nice, quiet people were more his type...


	16. Chapter 16

151. periphery: a boundary line; perimeter, and outside surface

That evening, Green discovered the true power of Misty's affluence. Her father had helped her establish an periphery around his hotel; well, he did complete his side of the deal quite thoroughly, so in a way it was deserved. However, he wondered about the uncrossable-ness of the boundary, since it seemed that other hotel occupants were quite easily let in - what if one of them was a fanboy?

152. tyranny: arbitrary or unrestrained exercise of power; despotic abuse of authority

The hotel said nothing at first about the boundary (probably as eager as Green to avoid rabid, and _destructive_ fanboys). However, as security guards noticed some crazier ones threatening to crash the windows, the hotel managers phoned Green to kick him out. Green had just been peacefully writing an analysis that his grandfather had pushed on him (Gramps was getting worse at writing up conclusions; nowadays, he just sent scrappy notebooks with his key points and observations to Green and had Green translate and type up the papers for publication). He rubbed his temples in frustration, then resignedly packed his laptop and double checked his bag to make sure he had not forgotten anything.

153. regress: to return to a previous state

Green asked for access to the roof so he could directly fly off, but the hotel manager rescinded only under the condition that he clearly show himself before taking off, so that the mobs would stop harassing the building. How fandoms even became this intense, Green did not know, but he hypothesized that at least half of them had actually joined in boredom; mob mentality in humans was as curious a study as mob mentality in many pokemon...

Green leaned on the railing of the roof, and sucked in gulps of delicious night air.

"Hey!" The hustle and bustle down at the street quieted, and it seemed like some forty eyeballs or so turned to look at him. He laughed nervously; what a flashy way to regress into the homeless-ness of trainer days.

154. plummet: to decline or descend sharply

As Pidgeotto's flight stabilized, Green tried to use his phone screen's light to read the little scribbled note a nervous looking staff member had handed to him on his way up to the roof. She'd told him to go south to Vermilion (not even Saffron!), where the hotel's other branch had offered to let him stay free of charge.

Green was settling in on Pidgeotto's relatively small back when the bird suddenly plummeted upon seeing Saffron's bright lights. Green felt his heart leap into his throat as he tugged the bird's feathers in protest. Pidgeotto confusedly flapped to regain speed, and Green felt his whole body reverberate uncomfortably.

155. placebo: something presented as a drug, but having no effect

The first person Green saw in Vermilion, as he landed in front of its pokecenter, was a crooked teeth old man who chuckled (quite nastily) and offered him some white powder. Green's thoughts flickered between, "Wow, what a wonderful way to be reacquainted with this shady (shitty) place!" and "I sure hope that that's a placebo and not actually the real stuff, like what kind of sicko would hand that to a homeless dude?"

156. putative: put forth or accepted as true on inadequate grounds; supposed

The nurse was fairly helpful in giving directions that kept him on the biggest, best lit roads, but Green could not help but shiver as a couple sleepless and homeless stared at him as he speed-walked down the street. And when he arrived at the hotel, he bit the side of his mouth. He just was not having the best luck; while the Cerulean branch was homely and friendly, this branch looked more like a cheap motel, if anything.

The young woman working as the receptionist was not helping either. She was sassing him, _the_ master of sass; she called his claim to being relocated _putative_ and refused to give him a room and left him to sulk on the sofa in the lounge._  
_

157. concede: to acknowledge as true

Green was glad that he'd washed up early that day, and he tried to clear spiteful thoughts from his head as he quietly relocated chairs to create a more comfortable "bed" in the cold lounge. After piling all his clothes on top of himself, he burrowed his shoulder as far as it would go into the corner of the couch, and fell asleep.

So when the receptionist lady flicked his forehead and placed a room key on his nose, conceding that he did indeed have a room reserved, he blinked his eyes open and glared. Anyone, besides Leaf and probably Red, that woke him up (Leaf was _terrifying_ when Green sassed her a bit too much) was not exempt from his ultimate death glare.

158. maul: to injure; mangle

The receptionist did not have the slightest tone of apology in her voice, and Green resisted the urge to maul something as the lady swished away, _tossing her hair over her shoulder_. Green did not appreciated being sassed, especially in the middle of the night when he couldn't formulate an equally sharp retort.

159. serendipity: unexpected gift or discovery

Green shoved his clothes in his backpack (he'd only washed them yesterday but somehow they'd end up going in and out of his backpack so many times he was tempted to throw them in the laundry again) and stormed up the stairs, deliberately avoiding any potential human contact. It turned out he had nothing to worry over, and when he slid open the door to his room, the state was a serendipity; despite the crappy look of the building, the room was immaculate, and Green was able to muster the heart to forgive the lady just for the condition of the room, and then fall back asleep.

160. obtuse: slow in understanding; dull; stupid

Green woke up feeling groggy and obtuse, partly from a growling stomach and the confusion as to where the hell he was. As his thoughts pieced themselves together, he curled up into his blankets and groaned. At least Leaf had scheduled the arrival to Vermilion today, so he'd just have a couple extra hours as he was currently ahead of schedule. What to do? His stomach whined. Eat first, think later. Green's brain agreed - it craved the caffeine.


	17. Chapter 17

sorry it got random this chapter

i swear like i have no clue what the plot is doing sometimes its like y u do dis

the story writes itself... or the vocab writes the story...

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161. fitful: occurring in irregular outbursts; occurring in spurts

Green slowly eased into new clothes for the day as he checked his phone for the time and any new messages. There were none - that didn't really bother him since he never really used his phone to talk to people anyway, but he had expected some onslaught of spam from Leaf to make up for her not calling him the day before. Leaf had not bothered him for a record time, and he could only wonder what she was doing - her interests and hobbies changed fitfully, and while one day she might be bored enough to become substitute gym leader, the next day she could easily be back to watching bad dramas.

162. novice: a person new to a field or activity; a beginner

Even if Leaf had not messaged him, she could still probably have various ways to check on what he was doing; she was no novice at computer hacking, as he found out the hard way. When Green had quit training to go study, she'd been so pissed that she had gotten onto the desktop he had then shared _with his grandpa_, and then downloaded almost four gigabytes worth of porn (1000 pictures!). Prof. Oak had been fairly lenient, probably thinking that was normal for boys (the professor thought everything was normal for boys), and had ignored it.

163. underscore: to emphasize

Green hadn't even been able to think of a reasonable explanation, besides "Leaf did it." He also could have said that he was gay, but he had a bad feeling about his grandpa knowing; Prof. Oak had no qualms about spreading his personal life on the news, and probably wouldn't realize that Green'd get a whole lot of attention of newspapers found out his sexuality and underscored it for the whole world to see...

164. ode: a long, lyrical poem, usually serious or meditative in nature

Either way, Green was finding that Viridian had several perks despite being such a shady, creepy, back-alley robbers kind of place. Firstly, the breakfast tables were replete with actually soft, moist muffins (not the dry, crappy stuff) and Green was mentally skipping in a field of flowers and singing an ode to all Kalosian chefs.

Another perk was that the scientists studying the Tanoby Ruins at the Sevii Islands had just come back on the ferry a couple nights before, and Leaf had probably known this already from connections or something because she'd arranged a casual lunch meeting with them at some nice seafood restaurant. Green had worked with quite a few of them, though he hadn't kept in touch with any, and he was quite eager to hear about how studies of the Unown were developing.

165. wry: dryly humorous, with a touch of irony

Leaf hadn't planned anything for that morning, so he returned to his room and got into bed with his laptop and continued typing up the analysis papers for his grandpa. The professor had included some wry puns in his notes; "Unovans now resisting Plasma that are still trying to e-Raticate trainer culture. Unown when internal conflicts cease." Maybe it was his way of apologizing for making Green write up reports, but it did work in making Green groan at the banality. He really did see those same puns waaay too much.

166. dreary: depressing and boring

Writing was becoming increasingly dreary as the sun rose outside, bathing the room in brilliant light from glorious blue skies. Wingulls cawed outside, and Green let his mind wander. Last time he'd challenged Surge, he'd depended on his Machamp's earthquake to KO all of Surge's pokemon. Of Red's pokemon, only Aerodactyl knew earthquake, and he prayed that Aerodactyl would have high enough defense to maybe last a few thunderbolts.

167. placate: to make less angry

Green finally got up to placate his stomach, which asked for something more substantial than just sweets. He munched on an apple he'd carried back from the breakfast tables downstairs as he ironed his kind of nice and casual button-up shirt and his wrinkled pants. At least he was making some effort to look decent, not that he usually cared.

168. correlate: to correspond; to be mutually related

The map on his phone apparently could not correlate Green's location with the GPS system (according to the GPS, he was currently out in the middle of the ocean), so he was stuck wandering the streets, asking for directions. He blamed Surge for being careless with the electric fields or whatever signal obstructions he blasted from the gym every single day.

169. valiant: courageous, brave as in battle

After some valiant struggles with the odd accents and bad directions, he spotted the distant signs down the street advertising the restaurant's name. It was actually only a couple buildings away from the gym; when Green walked past the gym, something caught his eye. Posters, taped on the walls. With puns.

170. fathom: to measure the depth of; to understand

Green honestly could not fathom why Surge would allow such bad puns. He just did not know what to say when he saw the enormous poster outside the gym, with "I'm not gonna (Raichu) a love song." Surge's own Raichu was posing at the center of the poster, and Green felt the most amazing urge to face palm arising in his arm.

And it got worse. Besides the poster, there was another one with "Ash," the totally unlike Red cartoon character that was supposed to be based off his life. It was followed by another one with a Nidoran. All together it ran something like, "I'm not gonna (Raichu) a love song, 'cause you (Ash)'d for it, 'cause you (Nidoran)..."

Maybe it was an old man thing. Maybe Surge would get along with Prof. Oak better than he'd imagined.


	18. Chapter 18

eh last chapter was the shortest yet sorry

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171. perpetuity: a state of infinite or indefinitely long duration

Green stared at the posters slack-jawed for another couple seconds before snapping his attention away (no, he did not need people seeing him so interested in such crappy puns) and walking a little faster to the restaurant. He walked in tentatively, searching for familiar faces. And familiar faces there were, as if frozen in perpetuity; nothing about them had changed - besides an extra gray hair here or there, his fellow scientists hadn't changed a bit.

172. euphony: pleasing sound, especially of words

They called out to him, and he walked over to their large rectangular table, and sat down at the edge besides one of the more ancient excavation analysts. They inquired politely about how he'd spent the past years, and he dismissed them cheerily with a "nothing much," and they roared in laughter.

"High school isn't nothing much unless you didn't have a girlfriend, boy! When I was fifteen, I was..." Green stared vacantly at the speaker, occasionally laughing or smiling, but let most of the stories wash over him in a pleasant euphony. The stories were trivial, but somehow being with a group of friends, or more like former coworkers, was relaxing.

173. palliate: to lessen the pain or severity

The gigantic fish came several minutes later, presented on an enormous plate and garnished with all sorts of pungent vegetables and spices. Green inhaled deeply, and his mouth immediately began to water. However, at the corner of the table, he had little chance of reaching the fish himself, and instead handed his plate down the raucous table for someone else to maybe fill it for him. One of the professors took it upon himself to portion out the fish, and somehow the chaos settle down and Green got his plate back with a heaping chunk and a smile (they thought he was thin! He hadn't done actual exercise in ages and he was busy worrying over a layer of fat accumulating on his body).

The delicious meal palliated his hunger wonderfully, and the professors settled into a momentary lull in conversation to indulge in the meal thoroughly.

174. gibe: to ridicule

Sophisticated eating manners were temporarily forgotten, and one or two people shot friendly gibes at the particularly voracious eaters. The eight or so people were able to fully finish the heaping plate in less than fifteen minutes, and afterwards, everybody sat back and sighed in contentment, before falling back into easy conversation. Green couldn't find much place in the talk, but was happy to sit back and absorb the information about recent findings and theories, some more credible than the others.

175. writhe: to twist or squirm, as in pain, struggle or embarrassment

Eevee began writhing and whimpering in her pokeball, probably hungry, and Green quietly released her under the table. He handed her a chunk of fish and she nibbled quietly under the table. While most pokemon honestly required surprisingly little food, Green tried to feed his pokemon consistently; he'd probably have to be more careful though, as Eevee seemed to be becoming a little more plump as time went by.

176. fertile: producing abundantly; prolific

Conversation somehow returned to relationships, and then a collective teasing of one of the younger scientists, in his twenties, ensued. He'd fallen for a painter girl, Edna, one of the few women on the island. Though the Sevii Islands were fairly fertile, it could not support a large population, which resulted in lots of guys falling for very few girls. Of course, the girls usually didn't reciprocate the feeling and tried to find relationships with people outside the region to move off the islands.

177. hapless: unfortunate; unlucky

The hapless man blushed furiously as his friend recounted one of his braver encounters with the girl. Apparently, he'd given her a fossil for her birthday (at this the other people wolf-whistled or shouted "lame!"), an unown plushie (not even cute, what the fu-?), and still hadn't confessed. Green tried to stay out of the whole conversation, being what, gay and single and supposed to be enjoying youth and romance, and chose to laugh along and try to avoid attention. When they ended up turning to him to question his relationship status, he laughed a little and talked about his relationship and some stories with Leaf. Though it was totally platonic anyway, he left out a couple clarifying words here and there, opening it up to interpretation.

178. timbre: the distinguishing quality of a sound

The restaurant was located fairly close to the port and had a good view with its windows wide open. So when the low timbre of a ship horn blasted, it was clearly audible, and everyone at the table sat up quite abruptly.

"They're leaving already? What the heck, I thought they said to board in the evening!"

"I know right, crap, look at the people we have to run, run!" They fished out crumpled bills from dusty wallets and tossed them on the table. Green moved aside to watch them filter out in a hectic rush.

"It was nice seeing you again Green, keep in touch and start researching again! Don't let your grandfather take all the glory!"

Green smiled and waved. He then stared at the mess of loose bills scattered around the table. He counted them up and found that they had all overpaid, but he felt obliged to add a couple dollars in. The serving lady would be getting quite the tremendous tip.

179. skittish: nervous; easily frightened

When he stepped outside the restaurant, he was nearly bowled over by a kid that crashed into his legs (thankfully not his stomach, it'd suffered enough trauma from Pidgeotto). The kid was hugging a pikachu that looked like it'd been fried.

"S-sorrry!" The skittish kid burst into tears as Green looked at him. Hey, he wasn't even staring at the kid..., at least not Red-staring.

"Uh, it's ok, you need some help there?" The kid shook his head and ran off wailing.

180. connoisseur: an expert, especially in the fine arts

Green walked to the gym a little tentatively. He was no connoisseur in psychology, but he was fairly certain that either Surge or one of his trainers was responsible for frying the pikachu, as since Red had beaten his Raichu, Surge had developed a hate for the pre-evolution. Green fiddled with Aerodactyl's ball, wondering whether Surge would be composed enough to sign a petition after losing. He had a feeling that Surge would be more prone to ripping the paper in half...


	19. Chapter 19

o bby we're almost at the 10% mark

did i spell vermilion wrong in the last chapters crap

* * *

181. prototype: the original model; someone or something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class

Green disliked a lot of things about the lieutenant, but one of the things about the gym that he hated was how the switch placement was randomized. The essential structure was the same as the prototype he'd used when first opening the gym way, way back, but since there was no pattern to remember, Green had to go through all the switches to get to Surge. He was worried that Aerodactyl might become more tired from all that excess battling, but if anything, the fossil pokemon seemed all the more excited

182. patronize: to sponsor or support; to be kind or helpful in a snobbish way, as if dealing with an inferior

When Green finally disabled the electric field blocking the pathway to Surge, Surge stared him down patronizingly.

"Well well, if it isn't _Green_."

Green didn't really know what to say. Like, _actually, I'm Blue_?

"I'm pretty sure you're here to force my approval of your little plan, eh?" _Yeah, cause I'd steer clear of this place if I didn't have to._ _Cause you know, Vermilion and druggies and old men._

"Well you won't find me easy to beat. I've trained and become way tougher since you were last here." _Good, cause that'd be sad if you were still that weak._ "I'll roast you with a Tunderbolt!" Green forced down a snort._  
_

183. segue: an easy, effective, or uninterrupted transition

The segue into battle was so reminiscent of his trainer days - the obnoxious challenge, the traditional battle posing, and the battle. Lt. Surge was seriously taught four of his five pokemon double team, and though Aerodactyl was able to hit most of them with an earthquake on the first or second try, the damage piled up, and at Lt. Surge's last pokemon, Green switched Aerodactyl out for Venusaur, and simply overpowered the electabuzz with a series of giga drain and frenzy plant.

184. falter: to hesitate or stumble

And just like deja vu, Lt. Surge's confident front faltered after Electabuzz fainted. His sunglasses slipped a bit down his nose in shock, and Green smirked. Ah, exploiting type advantages felt like cheating sometimes... It really was weird that gym leaders could become so strong relying on one type; such homogeneity made it way too easy for someone with a type advantage to wipe out your team. Why did so few people try to find some variety? It was a little more studying and effort to get comfortable with all types, but honestly, the only strong trainers were those with good type diversity! Well, electric was a fairly good type to choose, but it must always suck for Surge to meet people with even just decent ground types... Aerodactyl wasn't even a ground type...

185. expedition: a journey undertaken for a specific reason, such as for war or exploration; speed in doing something

Surge signed the petition even more painstakingly than Misty. Green grimaced a little as the lieutenant essentially stabbed the paper viciously. He faked a smile as Surge handed him back the paper. Looking down at the signature spot, he curiously noted the difference between Brock's neat, blocky script, Misty's somewhat unnaturally loopy signature, and Surge's... kindergarten level scrawl. Well, that was now three out of seven down in his expedition. Blaine would probably sign the sheet no problem, so that left only three gyms left. The three girls. Ugh...?

186. expertise: specialized skill or knowledge

Green tucked the petition away in his wallet and strolled down to the docks. He watched some city kids testing out their new rods. Green smiled an actual, genuine smile as he recalled the trouble he had in developing his fishing expertise. He'd practiced a ton with a lame old rod, catching nothing but magikarp, but when he'd gotten a much better fishing rod, he'd been able to land almost everything that bit the line (Gyarados, Seadra, Dewgong and the like). Though he was a more catch-document-release kind of trainer, it was still fun watching newbies and novices try fishing for the first time.

187. torrent: a swift flowing stream; an uncontrolled outpouring

He dangled his leg over the dock's edge, leaning back on his hands and staring up at the blue sky. His pale skin would probably scold him later, red with sunburns. The afternoon sun was just the right temperature and the sea breeze just the right speed. Green felt sweat beading at his skin, and indulged in a last couple seconds of warmth before standing to leave. It was then that he noticed the novice fishers screaming - not the happy kind of hyper kid scream, but the kind that meant somebody was dying or in pain or in danger.

He scanned the waters, and saw a kid a good 30 feet or so away from the nearest person, being tossed about in a torrent of waves that looked quite suspiciously like a whirlpool. It seemed like some sadistic tentacruel was playing with him, and that pretty much made it impossible for any non-water pokemon trainer to even get close.

188. deity: a god

Green fumbled for Blastoise's ball and released the turtle hurriedly, pointing at the kid in the distance. The turtle understood immediately and literally blasted away with its water engines and a speed Green didn't even know was possible. Green crossed his fingers and hoped that whatever water deity would save the kid from death by evil jellyfish.

189. immune: not subject to an obligation imposed on others; not affected by an influence

Though certainly quite adept in moving in the water, Blastoise was not immune to the churning whirlpool, and had difficulties getting closer to the kid, who had just been submerged. Green was hyperventilating at the shoreline along with a crowd of screaming people who had gathered. Fishermen released seakings to swim to the kid, but the light fish were tossed to the side.

190. venomous: malignant; spiteful; secreting poison

When Blastoise reached the whirlpool's center, he dived down and in a couple seconds re-emerged with the kid. The spectators cheered, but the fight was not over; now the turtle had to escape while the venomous pokemon had nothing to distract it. Green released Aerodactyl and Espeon, and directed Aerodactyl to carry Espeon over the whirlpool to launch a couple shadow balls to scare off the tentacruel.

The two worked together fairly well, and were able to land a couple successful hits, even through the murky waters. Meanwhile, Blastoise ferried the crying kid over, and the congregation assembled at the dock cheered. Green offered a couple smiles before hopping on Blastoise to avoid the questioning crowd that began to grab at him. Green sighed. He really wasn't the hero here; if anything, it was Red's pokemon - heck, even Red deserved credit for training his pokemon to work so cooperatively.


	20. Chapter 20

wow 200 prompts later! 10% done! (crying why is there so much left at least i suck at plot so at least its not like im running out of ideas lol Green's pokemon adventures are proceeding quite nicely)

* * *

191. nomad: one who has no permanent home

Green fled on Blastoise to the nearest shoreline empty of people, which turned out to be quite a ways northwest of the dock. He hoped that few people would recognize him (he hadn't taken care of his spiky hair or worn nice clothes since leaving the gym what, four days ago?) and follow him around. He'd had quite enough of creepy stalkers for awhile, whether they be other peoples' fans or Red's pokemon's.

Blastoise paddled in as close as he could before sweeping Green off his back and waddling the rest of the way to the beach. Unlike the rocky shoreline that bordered the Vermilion docks, the shore here was beautiful, sandy, and untouched. Green was all for the nomad life if he could avoid creepers, but his conscience would not let him waste a perfectly nice hotel room he'd paid good money for (assuming Leaf had used his credit card to pay the bills). He relaxed in the glittering white sand, indulging in the solitude, before calling out Pidgeotto for a flight directly to the hotel.

192. subdue: to conquer; to make less intense

Luckily, no one seemed to recognize him as he walked quickly through the hotel lobby and hallways; though people occasionally stared at him, their whispers were subdued, and not interested. He'd unfolded his collar and untucked his shirt, then patted his hair down to droop over his face, and the lame excuse of a disguise seemed to be working well enough. However, upon reaching his room, his door was blockaded by a bouquet of pink carnations and hydrangeas and a couple cards.

He felt an uncomfortable fear rise up in his throat. Gifts were nice and all, but the people knew exactly where he lived? He scooped the mass up and struggled to open the door. After the door finally clicked, he swung it open and scrambled in. What if he was being watched?

He bolted the door closed before tentatively reading the first of four cards. It was from some trainer Joey - probably the kid Blastoise saved. Green went to the stone balcony and released Blastoise and Aerodactyl and Espeon to hear the kid's thanks.

193. ruffle: to take away the smoothness of; to discompose

"'Hi Green!'" _Well damn, he recognized me._ "'Thanks so much for saving me! I thought I was going to die! Your pokemon are amazing, but how can you take care of so many? When I battled you in June you had entirely different pokemon!'" _This kid... is very creepy..._ "'My friend Gold talked to his friend Silver who talked to his sister Leaf who told me where you lived, so don't worry about other people knowing! Your Blastoise and Aerodactyl and Espeon are probably in the top percentage of pokemon! My Rattata says thanks! :D'" _Aha. The weirdo rattata kid from a couple weeks back._

Blastoise and Aerodactyl seemed a little ruffled in embarrassment with the praise, but Espeon accepted it gracefully. Green tucked the card away in its envelope and pulled out the next one.

194. conviction: a strong belief or opinion

The next, surprisingly, was from Gold.

"'Hi Green! I've actually never talked to you but I've heard quite a lot about you, even in Johto! Thanks for saving Joey, he's a really creepy kid, but he didn't deserve to die just yet, haha. Oh, is he just really stupid or do you actually also have a Blastoise and Aerodactyl? Are those Red's pokemon? Do you know where Red is?'" _Holy shit this kid is sharp._ "'Well, either way, thanks, I'll probably challenge you soon, so battle with your own pokemon then, ok? Red's pokemon are really cool!'"

Green's conviction wavered. Was it really that easy to tell what was going on? What if some officer Jenny decided to question him and ask why his pokemon weren't registered under his name and whatnot... Blastoise and Aerodactyl laughed a little, and Espeon handed him the next card.

195. penury: a lack of money, property, or necessities

It was from Silver, the redhead.

"'Thanks. No matter how stupid, people should never die. Whirlpools are hard to escape. The hydrangeas mean perseverance.'" Green looked over at the flowers. Hydrangeas were pretty expensive, at over $10 a stem at some stores (he'd bought a couple to test their toxicity when Eevee'd nibbled a couple). This kid wasn't feeling the typical penury of your average trainer...

196. veritable: being truly named; real or genuine

The last card was from Leaf. It was the plainest looking one, made as if from normal printer paper.

"'Good job to Red's pokemon! And you, for not just sitting there and watching. How're your travels so far? I had a good friend of mine fly over to bring the stuff. Haha, you're probably in a veritable panic just wondering how the hell people figured out where you lived, eh? Call me later, I forgot to call you yesterday. Oh, and I added in a couple pink carnations, they represent gratitude. Isn't Silver cute, sending flowers and all?'"

197. frugal: careful in spending money or resources

Green googled the meaning of pink carnations and was a little surprised to see Leaf was telling the truth. Carnations were pretty cheap at less than $5 a stem, so he thought Leaf was just being frugal and fibbing him.

Green recalled a happy Blastoise and Aerodactyl and Espeon, and then dialed Leaf's number.

198. absolve: to free from guilt or blame

She picked up a couple seconds after the first ring.

"Hi hi hi! Um, firstly, I'm absolved of whatever stalker accusations you have cause I didn't tell the others where you lived, I just had them send their stuff to me. Pretty efficient, eh?"

"Yeah, thanks. The flowers are pretty nice, but why didn't you just keep them for me? I'm bad at taking care of flowers, and yeah how the heck did that friend fly them over in such nice condition?"

"Oh Jan-, um she's just a ninja, and she owes me a couple favors because I've been helping her out. I think you just need to wrap the stems in damp newspapers and plastic wrap or stuff and put 'em in a box and ship them back here. Hey, you can literally ship them from Vermilion harbor right to Pallet, and I'll ask Professor Oak or Daisy to pick them up and keep them, they'd probably take better care of them anyway right?"

199. gyrate: to revolve on an axis; to spin

"Uh, I'll figure something out? And how do you know Silver?"

"...uh that's a little awkward backstory thing... we were orphans at the same orphanage, and we got out quite a while ago..."

"...Sorry for bringing that up. Well thanks for the flowers, your itinerary is actually pretty effective, I've been having a nice time. Bye."

"You're welcome! Bye!"

Green ended the call. Well, that conversation gyrated out of the comfort zone fast. He was surprised that Leaf had been so open about it at all, since she usually really shielded about her past.

200. benefactor: one who helps and supports others

The sun was just below the horizon when Green had changed into his only other change of clothes and tossed his stuff in the laundry machine. He felt a little bad about washing so little stuff and wasting quite a bit of water, but that'd just be something for the hotel to deal with.

He ate out at a smaller restaurant near the seafood restaurant he'd had lunch in. The benefactor here was especially generous, giving him heaping portions - they probably tried to be more generous to compete with the seafood restaurant next door. Green tried to finish as much of the gyoza as he could, before resigning and asking for a take-out box. He tipped quite generously, and walked back to the hotel, vaguely wondering how he'd earned so much money from battling so long ago. Well, a bunch of it was science awards and stuff, that probably added up to quite a lot. He tried recalling the awards and was surprised by the sum. He'd never really bothered thinking about his finances as he knew the number was quite comfortably in the seven digits, but wow, he really was rich-ish somehow?

Hey, he'd earned quite a bit at the championships, but wow Red on the other hand must be really rich. What if Red was so wealthy, he'd actually bought like a plot of land on the top of Mt. Silver?

* * *

what the hell, what a nice life Green, too much money and doesn't even care


	21. Chapter 21

i watched george takei's ted talk and omg so cute so sad such deep

another short chapter

* * *

201. raze: to demolish; to flatten to ground level

Green ran to get his laundry (he'd clear forgotten it) and was relieved to find his clothes neatly folded on top of the machine he'd used. At least there were good people in the world that didn't try stealing your clothes when you weren't looking.

After washing up, Green fell asleep gracefully for the first time since leaving on his journey. He slept deeply and dreamlessly, but his luck did not last and that morning at 5 AM his temple of peace was razed to the ground by a long (and obnoxious) honk from a ship in the harbor. The S.S. Anne was leaving for the worldwide cruise (the crowds had boarded the previous night), and was trumpeting its departure to all of Vermilion.

202. therapeutic: having healing powers

After the honk, Green was unable to fall back asleep, and in frustration, resigned to getting up and preparing for the departure to Celadon. He rubbed his temples, hoping that it would have some therapeutic effect. Celadon was close enough to walk to, but that'd mean going through Saffron... He decided on surfing west, along the coast, and then flying over the forest separating Celadon from the beach. According to his map, Celadon was really just off the coast but far enough that developers had yet to pave a path connecting it to the ocean.

203. superfluous: unnecessary; extra

Green packed his things away in his backpack quickly, but then confronted the problem of shipping his flowers back. He walked around the hallways and lobby, asking for a cardboard box, and finally, one person actually stopped staring at him weirdly long enough to hand him a box and a couple magazines. Green went outside to search for a newspaper stand, and grumpily trudged at least half a mile before finding one. However, he was rewarded by the glory of sunrise, and was able to forget his pain for a moment.

As he walked back to his room, he flipped through the newspaper. Gold was in the notable battles section once again, this time with a togepi - not even a togekiss. Green stared at the section a little bit, but found no useful information. Upon returning to his room, he wrapped the flowers with the newspaper and stuffed the empty spots with crumpled magazines. As an afterthought, he carefully put in the cards on a side. He briefly wondered if the special care was superfluous, but carried the box down in the elevator anyway.

204. figurehead: a person with apparent but no real authority

When he asked the receptionist for advice on mailing things from the hotel, she turned out to be just a figurehead, so he gave up and simply asked for some duct tape to wrap the box up. She complied, and after trying to call various workers she finally contacted one who knew where the tape would be and brought it down. Green felt a guilty for causing such a ruckus, but tried to hide it as he taped the box up and wrote down Daisy's address and FRAGILE in huge letters on one side.

205. undulate: to move in a wave-like motion

Green dropped the package off at the post office around 6:30 AM and then searched for any open restaurants. He gave up after the fourth "closed" sign and walked to the Pokecenter to eat. They had alright fish sandwiches (at least it wasn't porridge), and Green swirled his cup of coffee, watching the dark liquid undulate and splash a little as he waited for it to cool.

206. quibble: to criticize or evade the truth by raising trivial or irrelevant objections

The docks were already bustling with noise, so Green decided to first fly to the quiet stretch of sandy beach he'd found the day before. He had two reasons: one was to avoid the people at the harbor, and the other was to cross the ring of boulders that stuck up from the ocean, surrounding the harbor and stopping novice trainers from going out into the open sea. Green remembered quite clearly the days when he'd tried to climb over the boulders to try surfing out when he'd missed the ferry to the Sevii Islands. He'd been caught by a couple sailors who quibbled loudly, saying that it was too risky or dangerous.

207. esteem: high regard; respect

Green flew over some crazy ocean swimmers on his way. They really earned his esteem, since Green was paranoid about being attacked by ocean pokemon or a muscle cramping when nobody was there to see.

208. stentorian: extremely loud

One of them was taking a break, lying on the back of a gyarados, and hollered in a stentorian voice at Green to come down and enjoy the water. Green pretended not to hear, and told Pidgeotto to stop looking so curious. However, Pidgeotto's glancing downwards was a total give away, and Green resigned to having the bird cautiously swoop down while he released Blastoise directly into the water. Pidgeotto circled shakily above the water before dropping Green onto Blastoise's back, and Green landed with an "Oomph" and probably a bruise on one knee. The swimmer cheered and the gyarados swam closer to Blastoise.

209. revere: to honor

"Nice landing! Now that takes some good control!"

"Uh..." Green rubbed his knee. "Yeah. Why are you out so early?"

The swimmer laughed. "7:30 in swimmer time is pretty late! Some of us come on out aroung 4 or 5 in the morning!"

Green deadpanned. "Why?"

"To revere the water legendaries! One of my friends said that he saw Lugia once, so one of these days I might get lucky and see Suicune or something!"

210. trying: causing strain, hardship, or distress

Green refrained from deadpanning again. "Good luck with that." Swimming in the ocean seemed like it'd be way too trying and dangerous, especially with sadistic poisonous jellyfish swimming about, ready to torture kids.


	22. Chapter 22

oooooooomg 11%

this is almost like waiting for your laptop to charge after it dies

it's so slow (and painful)

I have to finish this before exams which is in 67 days hooooly crap

* * *

211. forlorn: appearing sad because abandoned; in pitiful condition; almost without hope

The swimmer's happy gyarados had "accidentally," maybe even "playfully" splashed Green, effectively soaking him and his bag. Though he'd bulletproofed anything of value, namely his laptop and phone, his clothes had not escaped the wave, and Green pondered why he even bothered washing his clothes when they got dirty in less than 24 hours. He wasn't share whether to be forlorn because he was now soaked by cold ocean water at 8:00 AM, pissed at the gyarados for being so insensitive, or laughing along with the swimmer.

212. sonorous: having a full, deep sound; impressive in style of speech

Green ended up taking off his shirt and pants and hung everything on Blastoise's shell. He released Eevee and then cuddled with her, shivering as the wind whipped him and his soaked boxers. The loud swimmer had left, his sonorous voice carrying on the water and echoing loudly even at a long distance. Green anxiously looked at his phone's map, judging the best area to go onshore.

213. clamber: to crawl or climb with difficulty, especially on all fours

After reaching the abandoned coast just south of Celadon, Green asked Blastoise to take him onshore, and Green clambered on to the warm sand thankfully, thanking Arceus and Groudon and all warm sunny pokemon for terra firma. He lay in the sand a little bit, and released the rest of the pokemon. Blastoise peeled off Green's damp clothes from his shell, and then offered to rinse him clear of sand, and Green was subjected to a weakened, but still slightly painful and cold water gun in the stomach. He flinched, and tried not to run screaming about the cold as Blastoise washed off the sand and grit from his arms and legs and back.

214. beneficent: performing deeds of kindness or charity; producing a good result

Charizard, the not so beneficent pokemon, refused to warm Green up, and merely flew above the beach, circling the air and enjoying his release, having been cooped up in his pokeball since terrifying the pokemon in Viridian Forest. Green resorted to standing under the shade of some trees further inland and going through his clothes, wringing them dry and letting them hang in the sunlight filtering through the leaves. He shook the water out of his backpack, and swung his phone and laptop charger in circles to clear it of any water.

Aerodactyl and Pidgeotto were spread-eagled on their stomachs in the sand, and Venusaur was close by, just standing and absorbing sunlight. Blastoise was back in the ocean, surfing the waves with Eevee and Espeon on his back. Charizard began to chase wingulls and random birds above the beach. It was strange how quickly and easily one could leave civilization and reach the wilderness in some parts of Kanto.

215. digress: to turn aside from the main subject

Green found the soaked itinerary with the ink slightly smeared. Leaf had just given loose instructions to choose between the game corner or the department store and just relax before checking into the hotel later. Digressing, she had also written a short list of gift ideas, "in case you still need something for Red, lame-o." Green sat on an exposed tree root and tried not to think about how weird it was to be running around in the wild with just boxers on.

216. impending: about to happen

Green napped in the shade as the pokemon played along the shore and his clothes dried. When he woke up, the sun was reaching its peak in the sky, signalling noon. Green was shivering a little and sneezing a bit, and he cursed at the impending cold. It was summer, for Arceus' sake, and who caught colds in the summer, of all times of the year? He reached for his clothes and wrinkled his nose at the strong smell of seawater, and then put on his shoes without socks. He buckled his belt and called back each pokemon one by one, except for a very warm and toasty Pidgeotto. Charizard grumpily let himself be recalled, and Green promised him a good battle with Erika.

217. repress: to hold back; to put down by force

Pidgeotto's feathers were extremely warm, and the bird himself was completely full of energy. Green, for the first time, felt obliged to repress Pidgeotto and keep his speed down (Pidgeotto tended to fly really slowly sometimes). After half an hour or so flying north, the forest cleared into the clearly visible building complexes of Celadon.

218. divisive: creating conflict

Pidgeotto dropped Green off neatly outside the pokecenter, and Green praised the bird on his improving flying skills before recalling him. Celadon had tons of great restaurants, and Green's desire for unhealthy food was divisive as his stomach craved anything greasy while his brain was insistent on eating healthy to support Green's draining muscle mass.

219. maudlin: excessively sentimental

Daisy once told Green that their parents had lived in Celadon before their dad had to move to work in some faraway region, consequently leading their mom to bring them to the quiet, seaside town of Pallet where they could see any ships passing by Kanto. Their mom did not deal well with the long periods of separation, and had eventually left Green and Daisy to Professor Oak and disappeared.

So when Green sat down at a traditional Kanto themed restaurant and tried their fried rice, he knew he was being maudlin, but couldn't stop tears from welling in his eyes and the intense familiarity of the cooking. The spices and vegetables used were all so reminiscent of his mom's cooking, and he couldn't help himself when he burst into the kitchen to the stares of a crowd of unfamiliar faces. His mom wasn't there.

He was quietly ushered back into his seat by a waitress, and was subject to a lot of stares, especially with his reddening eyes.

220. spendthrift: one who spends money wastefully

After that little reminder of the homeliness of Celadon, he aimlessly wandered the streets, trying to recall where he might have lived. Eventually, he went to the game corner, and played... a little. Though he had a fairly large wealth stored up, he had never been a gambling spendthrift, but he played out at least $200 in the slot machines before slapping himself in the face and running out of the building, cheek stinging. He stumbled into the alley at the side of the building and buried his face in his hands, trying to subdue the turmoil of remembrance and familiarity of Celadon.


	23. Chapter 23

Dude i read the manga and such confuse coz what Leaf is Blue with a hat and Lyra is Krys with a makeover from her mom?

i think i'll just make Krys and Lyra sisters? so Blue doesnt exist coz the whole blue/green thing is hella confusing anyway, there's just Leaf

* * *

221. obsequious: showing too great a willingness to serve or obey

Green rubbed his eyes clear of tears that threatened to spill out again. He had seriously not expected anything of the sort, having so few coherent memories of his childhood. When a stranger girl walked by and asked him if he was alright, he dumbly nodded. She looked on in concern, before handing him a handkerchief. Green declined, but she persisted. He gruffly asked her to piss off, and half expected her to shove the cloth in his face; however, she turned out to be almost obsequious in the way she withdrew immediately... he'd been looking for a confrontation or a yelling match to purge his emotions.

222. perennial: lasting through the years

The girl didn't go away though; she just stood there quietly, waiting for Green to get himself together. When Green finally looked up at her face, he was astonished by the remarkable familiarity of the girl - she wasn't someone from his childhood, it was like a face he'd seen recently, but younger...

The girl smiled when Green looked her way. "Great that you're feeling better! I'm Lyra, and you're Green, and you probably either know or have seen my sister Krys right?" Green's eyebrows shot up. Just how much Lyra knew bordered quite dangerously close to stalker. "Krys is a pretty big-name researcher in Johto, you'd be surprised how well she's known considering how pokemon research is so perennial and supposedly commonplace."

223. punitive: inflicting or intended to inflict punishment

Green really thought the resemblance was uncanny, and could only tell the difference by hair color and clothing style.

"I saw you walking around earlier, but I lost you around a corner. Wanna battle?"

Green shook his head. He wasn't exactly functioning that well.

"Uh, c'mon, our eyes kinda met already so we have to? I guess if you really don't feel up to it..."

Green sighed. That was kind of punitive, it made it seem like Green was breaking the rules by refusing the battle.

224. euphoria: a feeling of great happiness

Lyra decided on relocating the battle to the clearing. As spectators began to gather, she settled the rules hurriedly.

"Let's make this quick, one on one, no healing with potions, no stat boosters, first one to faint loses." Green nodded. Fair enough. Both moved to opposite ends of the field. "Release the first pokemon in your party in 3...2...1..."

Green smirked a little when Lyra sent out a Meganium and he sent out the very cranky and eager to roast things Charizard. Lyra'd gotten unbelievably unlucky, and she groaned when Charizard sent a fire blast her way. The small crowd that had gathered ooh'ed and aah'ed at the blast and applauded heartily. Green patted Charizard's back as Lyra withdrew her Meganium, but the typical euphoria of winning a battle just wasn't there.

225. flux: flow; continuous change or movement

Lyra was pretty ok sport about her loss; she tossed Green one of the overpriced soda pops from the department store. The crowd dissipated as they met again at the center of the field.

"Nice charizard. I know it was a bad time for me to ask for a challenge, but I thought I'd get a preview of what I should be prepared for when I get to Viridian."

"Thanks and no problem... Maybe you'll have better luck with type advantage next time."

"Haha, alright! And about earlier... losing people is part of the flux of life. It's good to remember in sadness, but you should focus on happy remembering."

226. celerity: speed in motion; swiftness

Lyra took out a folding bike from her backpack and sped to the Pokecenter with celerity. Green watched her go and the flopped down onto a bench, thinking about her words. He was half inclined to dismiss them, since he had so few happy memories of his parents. Even with gramps, there weren't too many memories of him and Daisy and the professor going out together to eat or watch a movie - but then, Pallet didn't really have anything anyways.

The real fun had been with Red and Leaf, playing together or battling together on their journeys. Green was tempted to call Leaf, but Leaf didn't really understand the whole abandoned thing; well, he knew she'd been kidnapped, but she'd eventually found her parents on the Sevii Islands. Green wistfully looked at Red's number and dialed it. He'd tried calling Red before, and though Red had never picked up (Mt. Silver was waaay out of signal), who knew, maybe he'd get lucky.

227. uncouth: uncultured; crude

And lucky he was. After the fourth ring or so, he'd ghosted his finger over the end call button, when the screen buzzed to life.

"OH MY ARCE- Wow, hey!" Green's shout had attracted attention from some old women. Well, not his fault he was being uncouth because somehow the divine forces had brought Red into signal when Green called. Then he noticed that the camera was pointed at a scenic landscape vaguely reminiscing of the view from the Elite Four's castle, not the owner. Crap. "Wait sorry, is this the wrong number?"

228. obliterate: to destroy so as to leave no trace

There was no response, but after some hesitation, Red turned the camera around to face himself. Green gasped and all his negative emotions suddenly vanished. It really was Red, pale skin and messy black hair and pretty eyes and all. Red was straight faced, but his eyes, at least his eyes seemed to be smiling.

"...Red..." Green sighed with a huge grin across his face. Just seeing Red was so nice and relaxing (he screen-shot Red's face)

Red nodded back and allowed the corners of his lips to perk up a little. Before Green could screen shot _that_ precious expression, he quickly turned the camera away and pointed at the field. Shortly after, he released Green's pokemon. Pidgeot and Exeggutor and Tyrannitar and Gyarados and Arcanine looked confused before seeing Green's face on the camera. Green waved and the others ran up to the camera cooing and babbling and shouting.

Green laughed and laughed until his face hurt from smiling. He then released Red's pokemon and turned the camera to face them. Red turned his phone's camera to face himself, and Venusaur, Blastoise, Aerodactyl, Espeon, and even suspicious Charizard widened their eyes in surprise and made happy sounds. Green made sure to screen shot that smile that time. He talked into the microphone, but continued to face the camera away.

"They've been great to work with; they've obliterated all the trainers I've battled so far... which isn't too many, but even the other gym leaders really couldn't do anything."

229. delineate: to draw the outline of; describe in words or gestures

Green turned the camera to face himself, and Red's pokemon jumped behind him on the bench so they could see Red. Green's pokemon were essentially doing the same thing on the other side. "...Not that I'm mad at all, but why're you down at Indigo Plateau?"

Red looked prepared to delineate a complex charade, but his hands were occupied with holding the phone at full arm's distance to fit Green's pokemon in the screen. "...Secret." Green didn't hear his voice over the chattering of his own pokemon, but was able to read Red's lips.

"...Ok then." Green released Pidgeotto on second thought, feeling a bit bad for keeping the bird away from the reunion. "I caught this guy to give me a couple rides since Charizard was being difficult and Aerodactyl's wings are barely strong enough to lift itself. Pidgeotto, meet your senior, Pidgeot."

230. extenuate: to lessen the seriousness of, especially by giving partial excuses

The afternoon passed all too fast with the video chat, and Green was bubbling with happiness just from seeing Red. Red was so pretty and his pokemon were all so happy and everything just seemed to work; Green didn't mind extenuating him from the crime of never having picked up a call beforehand.

Green was chatting to a nodding Red about his travels when he spotted Koga walking up to talk to Red. Green raised an eyebrow, but Red waved and Green smiled before the screen buzzed dead. Koga? Koga was like 40 or 50 right, if Janine was in her 20's? Red didn't go for old men right? What if he was actually there to see that creepy ass Will? Or muscle head Bruno? Or pretty but pretty violent Karen? Or old man Lance? Green shuddered. Well, Red seemed asexual most of the time so he'd probably not be there for a relationship...


	24. Chapter 24

231. beset: to attack from all sides; to trouble persistently

The grief that had beset Green earlier had evaporated, and for the rest of the day he was in a state of elation, and happily browsed through the department store looking for TM's for Arabella and Bonita and the rest back at the gym.

He left the department store after having a hard time choosing between ice beam and thunderbolt. He briefly pondered the condition of his bank account before shrugging and wandering back to the familiar streets downtown.

232. smolder: to burn without a flame and with little smoke; to exist in a barely suppressed state (as with anger or tension)

Green went back to have dinner at the same restaurant he'd gone to for lunch. Luckily, most of the waitresses or workers had switched shifts and did not recognize him. He'd initially had a smoldering feeling of resentment and unease, but cleared his mind of negative thoughts and ordered the strangest things on the menu. It'd be a funny experience and a nice way to leave the restaurant and Celadon on a good note. He was a little wary of ordering strange seafood though, he avoided the menu's page things without Arceus knows what kind of octillery or mantine or sharpedo.

The cheese nuggets were weird. It was kind of like eating meat, but it wasn't meat, yet it was so like meat it was a little mind-blowing. Green didn't really like cheese all that much, but it was strangely tolerable. What was really _really_ good was the deep fried ice-cream. It was the oddest contradiction of warm and crunchy and cool and smooth.

233. vigilant: alert and watchful, especially for what is dangerous

Green browsed the streets looking for his hotel. Leaf's handwriting had been badly messed up after the itinerary had been soaked with water that morning, so he had to be especially vigilant for any building with a name that could resemble Calaolou llolal.

234. usury: excessive charging of interest

The TV in his 6th floor room at the enormous Celadon Hotel (close enough to Calaolou llolal) actually had decent service, and Green was currently watching a comedic show with some kid Pearl and his friend Diamond, and in his opinion their act was more a display of Pearl's usury and and Diamond's love of food. Pearl seemed to be putting down Diamond pretty harshly, and Green felt his stomach turn a little as the scene reminded him of times he'd essentially bullied Red. Well, maybe it wasn't that bad and Diamond and Pearl where actually together or something. He got bored pretty fast and switched the channel to the only other free channel the TV system offered, which was another rerun of a particularly hot episode of Debonair Dragonair. Arceus, what were kids watching these days?

235. intricate: elaborately detailed

Green had to say he was guilty of not turning off the TV after getting to the cartoon. The plot was actually fairly intricate with decent mysteries, but the story line included a bit too much intense, loving stares and suggestive body intertwining. Green got up to shower when the pink and blue dragonair began to do their make out thing yet again in a cave in the middle of nowhere.

When he came back, the scene had suddenly switched to an intense battle between Debonair Dragonair (the blue one, the main character) and a jealous dragonite. The battle seemed awfully familiar, and even the camera angles seemed to have been taken from a live action video or something. Green recalled the famous battle between Karen and Lance, googled the video and found the reference video the animators probably had copied. He pumped his fist in satisfaction(?) and watched the cartoon version unfold, remembering how Karen's dragonair had actually taken out one of Lance's dragonites.

236. shuffle: to walk while scraping or sliding the feet

Green shuffled to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up for the night, when he recalled the salty and pungent state of his pajamas. He resigned to hand-washing his clothes in the sink and trying to blow dry them. The blow-dryer didn't really do much except make the clothes warm, and Green furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. Well, he could sleep in his boxers but he was paranoid about sleeping in hotel beds without clothes; who knows what kind of diseased people did _stuff_ on the bed.

237. raucous: loud and harsh

Green sucked up his pride and lay down on the bed after a while, trying not to think about how many people might have made out on it.

Sleep was well on its way to carrying him off into dreamland when Leaf called him. He really ought to have expected that, but the raucous noise made him leap up. He'd put his phone under his pillow, and the vibration and loud jangles had severely startled him.

238. prostrate: lying face down, especially as a sign of humility or worship; physically or emotionally exhausted

He rolled over to lie prostrate on the bed with the phone pressed against his ear.

"Sooo... how was Celadon?"

"Good." His voice, muffled by the pillow, sounded more like just "Guuu."

"Haha, did I wake you up again? Why do you sleep so early anyways, it's only 10."

Green rolled onto his back. "...just tired."

239. recluse: one who hides from the world

"Is the social life to intense for the great researching recluse?"

"I don't even do big research projects anymore with the job at the gym."

"Whatever, you probably don't hang out with anybody besides your gym trainers anyway."

"And you would know because?"

"Dude, I've become like bff's with Salma and Ada, of course'd I'd know what you've been doing."

"Why are you and everybody I meet so creepy? Privacy? No?"

240. meander: to follow a winding course; to wander without any fixed destination

The conversation meandered between scolding and insults and laughing, and at last Leaf decided to conclude her call.

"Hey Green... I know Celadon is a kind of huge nostalgic kick in the butt for you, but I'm glad that you're doing ok."

"Yeah. I called Red."

"He picked up?"

"Yup, I have no clue what he's doing in wifi signal though, mind employing your creeper powers to find out?"

"I'll take that as a compliment this time. Yeah, but that's kinda weird, where is he?"

"Indigo Plateau, I think. I'm pretty sure actually."

"Ok, good night for now, I might call you at 2 AM to tell you if I find anything. Or just to piss you off."

"..."

"Bye!" The line went dead.


	25. Chapter 25

241. shrewd: clever in practical matters; cunning

Shrewd as he was, Green still had yet to master the art of shutting off his phone alarm while half asleep. So, when his phone buzzed as if having a kind of spastic seizure, he was startled wide awake (he'd rolled on top of his phone in his sleep). After fumbling through the sheets to find the offending device, he was unable to fall back asleep, and stared at the unfamiliar, yellowing paint on the ceiling.

242. vivacious: full of animation

Though vivacious and active the day before after surprising contact with Red, Green felt the onset of lethargy once again. Celadon was a strange place of contradictions; all alive with the gamblers and shoppers, but sleepy with grass favoring trainers. It felt as if Erika, who was always on the brink of falling asleep (she probably was actually 80 or something and just had some secret plantlike longetivity), had asked her creepy ass tangela (actually all tangelas were hella freaky, even more so than Golbats) to douse the whole city in sleep powder.

Green stared blankly at the ceiling, before he startled himself when his lungs erupted into an almighty sneeze. Obnoxious pink azaleas sat in a vase by the barely open window, but shook in the light breeze as if laughing. Curse pollen or gyarados that splashed people and got them sick.

243. appease: to satisfy or attempt to satisfy demands by granting concessions

6 AM was a bit early to be roaming the streets for a restaurant, so Green decided to catch up on essay writing he'd neglected. He wasn't honestly that opposed to writing, it was just tedious, and not the part of researching he'd recalled most fondly.

His stomach apparently had risen with him and called for food a mere 30 minutes into writing. He dug out a 5 day old, surprisingly intact energy bar from the side of his backpack and munched on it in an attempt to appease his stomach.

244. extemporaneous: done with little or no preparation

Lots of people praised Green for his ease in public speaking. Green saw nothing in it; in fact, besides jotting down facts and statistics, he came to most meetings or speeches ready to speak extemporaneously. In fact, it'd be hard, and even absurd not to have your thoughts already laid out in a straight, organized line after thinking about the subject for months. Well, he also had the ability to write analysis for papers on the fly - that just took some deep thinking before hand. Writing was alright, and had been his anchor, if not booster on standardized exams. He just wasn't the type to make typos or grammar mistakes, so when he finished writing something, he rarely double checked.

245. scurry: to move with light running steps

When the digital clock at the bottom of his screen clicked to 8:00 AM, he shut his laptop screen and climbed out of bed. He felt a little bad for not indulging Eevee with some freedom the previous afternoon, and let her out as he changed and prepared to go out. She scurried between his legs and nuzzled his shins, and he was alternately tripping and laughing at her antics.

246. temporize: to act evasively in order to gain time

The noodle restaurant he was thinking about taking breakfast at had just opened, and when he entered, he noticed that the workers had just gotten there a couple minutes before hand. The pretty, blond ponytail waitress temporized, making small talk about the weather and sales at the department store as her coworkers worked frantically behind the scenes to get the soup boiling.

Green felt a little guilty, but more pleased that people were fussing over him. When the waitress seemed to run out of harmless topics and ventured on Green's relationship status, he just bluntly remarked, "I don't like girls."

247. zenith: maximum; the highest point

He half expected her to gasp or do something dramatic, but her excitement reached a new zenith. "Wow that's great! I don't like _like_ guys, so I'm kinda in the same boat! Well, I mean, seeing guys together is probably the hottest thing, but I'm currently in love with the cutest girl on the planet! Who's your boyfriend?"

"...I'm not exactly actively in a relationship... but I do like someone and he likes me too... I think?"

She laughed cheerily. "Oh boy, what you've got to do is take the _initiative_. Somebody's got to kick it off, and the sooner the better! Are relatives being a problem or something?"

248. thwart: to prevent or frustrate

Green thought about Daisy and his grandpa. Both of them liked Red, and were definitely open minded enough to accept anything. He couldn't imagine either of them trying to thwart a date or something of that sort.

"No, at least I don't think they'd be."

"Then go for it!"

"Uh, he's kind of far away and won't be back for another year unless..."

"Ah, long distance, that's a challenge."

"I worry a lot that someday he'll just forget me and move on." Green pinched the bridge of his nose. Yes, he was being an angsty teenager but was it ok for him to be like this with a total stranger? This girl really seemed familiar though...

249. excoriate: to denounce sharply; to tear or wear the skin off of

She excoriated his presumption. "Memories don't vanish that easy. How long have you been together?

"We've known each other for... 12 years? I kind of confessed 3 weeks ago?"

She face palmed. "At this rate, you'll be old and and a hunch-back by the time you think of living together!"

250. credulous: tending to believe too easily

They chatted on, with mostly Green worrying and the blonde girl reassuring and scolding. When the kitchen workers called on her to bring out Green's noodles, she handed him a note with her number.

"My name's Yellow; I swear I'm not trying to hit on you, because I'm totally in it for someone else right now. But I thought you might want to talk sometime again, since you were already so willing to talk to me as a stranger this morning." She giggled.

Green wondered if he was being credulous in thinking her intentions entirely platonic and innocent. "...I've told you my story, but who's this special girl of yours?

Yellow blushed. "She's really hot, but I don't have my phone on me during working hours because I get distracted real easy. Her name's Leaf. Do you know her?"


	26. Chapter 26

So 12 days in, and 13% done. Eek!

i was actually surprised when i was writing up 241-250 and Yellow popped up

i was like

why is yellow here

well

yolo

* * *

251. detriment: injury or damage

Green had trouble comprehending the tight knit community of Kanto and Johto. Somehow, everybody he met was connected to him. Or maybe everyone was connected to Leaf, and then subsequently tied to him. Like Joey to Gold to Silver to Leaf to Green. Or Yellow to Leaf to Green. Was it possible for coincidences like that to even happen?

Yellow sighed and twirled dreamily. "You know Leaf? I met her when I was just about to move out of Viridian, and way back then she was just looking for the gym leader, well, more like Rocket leader Giovanni. It was probably love at first sight, but the more innocent kind..." More giggles. "We meet up every once in a while when she drops in to Kanto." Green's eyebrows rose even higher up into his bangs. _This girl was from Viridian? What in the world, these kind of coincidences are supposed to be impossible! What the heck!_

Yellow seemed quite protective, and Green briefly wondered how hard she would sock him if he told her than Leaf was currently living his house. Yeah, their relationship was so platonic but close it was just waiting to be misunderstood. That'd be a definitely detrimental, and maybe even fatal move, depending on how obsessed Yellow was.

252. succulent: full of juice; highly enjoyable

"Yeah, I know Leaf, she's a childhood friend."

Now it was Yellow's turn to gasp. "Oh my Arceus, that's impossible! That's amazing! Then, do you know where she is right now?"

Green was narrowly saved from a highly awkward truth by shrugging and turning to face his succulent noodles. Yellow smiled resignedly. "Text me or something if you know where she is. Alright? She never replies directly and talks in riddles all the time... ok, have fun eating, bye!" She walked over to cheerily greet the next customer.

253. immaterial: not significant or relevant

Angsty worries were probably completely immaterial in his relationship with Red. They'd known each other for 12 years; well, 10 years counting the first 2 years of his disappearance. Their relationship had been bad in the prepubescent days, but it'd fixed itself up somehow when Green's ego got a nice kick in the butt and Red went up the mountain to run away from people and train.

254. pale: to decrease in relative importance

Though Red's achievements, numerically at least, paled against Green's, his rescinded title of champion and now hermit like behavior was far more interesting for the news. While Green was off digging up rocks and publishing in science magazines, Red sat in the snow staring at the sky. Green was lauded politely, but he'd gotten more than enough put downs of people claiming his grandfather to be the one appreciated. Red was the stuff of legends; somehow everybody knew, but did not know him: Everybody had heard of the famous Green and Red, who'd beaten the elite four consecutively in what, 30 minutes? But while Green's face was fairly well recognized in the scientific and older trainer community, _everybody_ knew about Red, but had no clue what his face even looked like.

255. humane: kind; compassionate

Green thought it strange that Red was able to be so blunt yet compassionate. When Raticate had passed away, Green was tempted to hurt himself or jump off the side of Pokemon Tower to get a feeling of what it was like to transition from safety to fear for one's life. He'd worked Raticate too hard, inhumanely so, and he stared out the window thinking of how monstrous a trainer he was to work a _Raticate_, a harmless raticate to death.

256. incorrigible: unable to be corrected or reformed

He was tempted to blame Red, but then again Red probably didn't even know what'd happened. After beating him on the S.S. Anne, Red had just stared at him, took the battle money, and left. Green had never been so frustrated. After laying the pokemon to rest in the tower, he had visited fairly often, thinking whether his training style was truly incorrigible or salvageable.

Red had come up one day, while Green was sitting in front of the gravestone, watching the curls of incense smoke rise. Red looked at him, and then wordlessly placed a neatly arranged bouquet of ruffled white carnations colored with tiny forget-me-nots. _Remembrance_ and _remembering forever_, or something along those lines; Green was ok at remembering flowers and meanings after browsing for long times for them.

257. patrimony: inherited property, especially from a father or other male ancestor

Excellence was his patrimony, so he pushed himself out of deep thoughts and into preparation for the battle with Erika. Charizard was the obvious choice - then for second choice, probably Aerodactyl since he could use a couple air slashes if the fire dragon got affected by some sleep powder. He looked at his watch - 8:55. He took out his wallet and neatly stacked some bills along with a good tip, then stood and waved bye to Yellow.

258. enumerate: to count off or list

Green enumerated the status problems he knew Erika typically employed: sleepiness, paralysis, or poison. If he was lucky, Erika would try to clear up the drifting clouds to make an almighty sunny day - and further boost Charizard's firepower.

259. mannerism: a distinctive behavioral trait; an idiosyncrasy

The first time Green had stepped into Erika's gym and battled her, he'd been pissed at her sleepy mannerism; he'd mistaken her drowsiness for arrogance and aloofness. Erika was quite the friendly person when awake, and quite a powerful battler. But like Brock, her type choice made her vulnerable to fire types and flying types, both types trainers usually had. People often caught cute growlithes and ponytas, or pidgeys and heck even caterpies had an ok chance with Erika if their pokemon had enough experience.

260. reserved: self-restrained and withdrawn in speech and manner

As usual, Erika greeted him smoothly and reservedly, if not a little lethargically. He took out his petition and she nodded knowingly without even hearing his explanation. She sent out her Jumpluff, which danced excitedly, littering the air with pollen and powder and pores. Green's throat itched. If Charizard had any problem, it'd be his fault for not commanding and sneezing his face off...


	27. Chapter 27

Hm thanks so much to everyone who's stuck with this plotless vocab mania so far

i can see you viewing and i is much happy hehehe

sometimes i wonder why i introduce characters

but then im like meh its all cool

right

i think

* * *

261. benchmark: a standard to which other things are compared or by which they are measured

After Charizard glared at him mercilessly after one sneezing fit, Green had waved him off saying, "Just flamethrower them all..." He watched through watering eyes, and making Jumpluff a benchmark as to Charizard's power, and thought quite confidently that if Charizard could get the first hit on all of them the match was as good as finished. Jumpfluff was Erika's fastest pokemon, but still had only managed to get a couple leech seeds in - those could be a little dangerous if he let the battle go on too long.

262. bedlam: any place or condition of noise and confusion

The battle concluded without much bedlam, and Erika smiled at him serenely and signed his petition with elegant, calligraphy-like script. As he got the petition back, she grabbed his wrist with surprising force.

"Green darling, I'm ok with you being the strongest, but you have expectations to meet with that title. You lose and I will dissolve your body in Victreebel acid."

Green shuddered as he looked into Erika's sweetly shining, fairly psychotic eyes. "Ok then."

"Goood," she crooned. "Enjoy Celadon."

263. innovative: marked by a new or unusual way of doing things

Green was not the most innovative person; that title belonged to his grandfather. But he could have thought of at least 10 movies Erika could or should have starred in; most being horror themed. Green wasn't the best at creative writing, but when talking about someone as strange and unique as Erika, anybody could have come up with a few stereotypical plot lines.

264. relent: to become less severe; to give in

Green had one more afternoon to spend at Celadon, and he was rather wary of going to the game corner after yesterday's imprudence. He'd never been much of gambler, so he'd scared himself a little bit by how much money'd he spent in just half an hour. He certainly had enough money to indulge, complained the gambling part of his brain. However, Green's conscious refused to relent, and he ended up going to the Celadon department's roof to relax with his pokemon. Silence and sun and meditation would be good way to purge dark desires.

265. token: performed only as an indication of intent

He lounged in the shade of an overhang, and lying on his stomach, watched people walk in an out of the department store building. All sorts of people came; there were trainers desperate for TM's, overdressed girls with heavy handbags and immense paper shopping bags, and old people that came to just talk to young trainers and window shop. He watched a particularly pretty blond followed by an entourage. He tried to put a name on her face - that bright yellow and black... an Unovan model... aha, Elesa. She's popped up in a magazine some time featuring gym leaders with interesting side jobs.

She'd made a token appearance for supporting the raise in minimum trainer age after a kid got mauled by a genesect - his death made world headlines. But afterwards, when the trainer organization continued to ask for her support, she'd pretty much disappeared, presumably to threats to her career by that ridiculous Team Plasma.

266. reflective: thoughtful

Green stared down at her reflectively, somewhat pitying her as newspaper people jostled her with microphones; she couldn't even take a vacation halfway across the world without getting some peace. But what was she even doing in a sleepy region like Kanto, with so little renown in the entertainment industry?

267. opportune: suitable for a particular purpose; occurring at a favorable moment

Eventually, Elesa found an opportune moment to escape into the building, where security guards halted the advance of her followers. Green watched the scene die down, and mused how long Elesa would wait before daring to exit once again.

268. decoy: a thing or person used to lure or tempt into a trap

Green was not disappointed by her escape plan. He almost missed it, and caught the start of her escape just as he lunged at the railing to catch Eevee, who had been balancing precariously on the steel bars.

Emolga were not strong pokemon, and not rare either. However, if trained right, they were fast and annoying and good for high speed battles. One of Elesa's emolga popped out of a window and started crying as it flew to the pokecenter. A decoy?

269. boisterous: noisy and wild; unruly

The more patient newspapermen who were camping outside the building immediately perked up, and some started following the pokemon. Others waited, unsure of whether to follow; but when her second emolga flew out of the same window, chasing the other one, they picked up their cameras and followed, sensing a kind of pokeromance or fallout going on.

The boisterous crowd dissipated, and Green watched as the two emolga dance above the streets playfully. Elesa walked out a couple moments later. Green almost missed her quiet exit; her hair was now a jet black with curls at the ends of the bangs that hung at the side of her head. She's also undergone a clothing change; the yellow and black had switched to yellow and blue. But the clothes were really weird; maybe she came to Kanto just for a different style?

270. factious: causing dissension

Then, the sound of a helicopter's chopping blades became audible. Green rolled onto his back as a weirdly sky blue helicopter appeared, heading straight for the department store. It hovered above the entrance, and Green covered his ears, but he could still feel his whole body vibrating from the helicopter that was literally 20 feet away from him. A redhead dressed in a skimpy blue outfit unrolled a ladder and Elesa immediately began climbing.

The crowd following the emolga had already broken up when factious reporters began disagreeing about whether they should follow the pokemon or Elesa. When they realized a helicopter was heading towards the department store, they broke out into a run, and just barely missed Elesa as she hung onto the ladder and the helicopter rose. Her two emolga quickly flew to the ladder and joined her in climbing, as the draft from the chopper's blades was too strong for them to fly her up to the helicopter entrance.

Green was amazed for several reasons. People in Kanto rarely used aircraft to travel, and he'd just seen two gym leaders from across the world in just 2 hours. When Elesa climbed into the helicopter, she saw Green's deadpan stare, and before Skyla turned to fly off, Elesa stared back, waved and then slammed the door shut. Rich people in Unova were really rich, not just Green rich but more like Lance rich. Skyla probably had to set up something huge in Kanto with nobody noticing, since there were no airports or helipads that Green even knew of. Wow.


	28. Chapter 28

271. cudgel: a heavy, usually short stick or club

Sometime in Green's awe, Espeon and Eevee had started playing with a broken piece of railing. They'd bent the sharp edge into a loop and fashioned it into a sort of cudgel, and now gleefully and quietly approached Green's sleepy figure. Green was lying face down on the very dirty concrete and being very boring, so they just wanted a little attention.

272. depict: to represent; to portray

Green's face was the perfect depiction of mock horror and betrayal. Eevee and Espeon had "lightly" swung the metal pole and whacked his bottom, and then started snickering. Upon hearing Green's shout, Charizard poked a head out from under his wing and snorted, while Venusaur and Blastoise and Aerodactyl laughed along. Green immediately stood up threateningly, but meekly retreated when Eevee smiled evilly alongside Espeon, both ready to launch shadow balls. While he wasn't too concerned about Eevee, who was not so much a battling pokemon as a companion (he'd come to a kind of understanding that she had never quite felt the urge to evolve), he was really worried about Espeon's shadow ball, whose special attack was just, you know, over three times that of Eevee's.

273. slander: a false, oral statement that damages a person's reputation

Espeon was all for slandering Green as a cowardly ass when he stepped back, but Eevee was too busy laughing her furry head off to care. She dissipated her shadow ball and jumped into Green's arms, cuddling with him and tickling him. Espeon, who was expecting a slightly more exciting confrontation, sighed and put out his own shadow ball and brushed against Green's legs. Green sat back down, wincing when his bottom made contact with the concrete and scratched both behind the ears in resignation.

274. arid: dry and barren; not interesting

As the sun got progressively higher in the sky, the air become more arid and the sunlight more intense, and Green decided to escape the roof which was now under full blast from the sunlight. He recalled all the pokemon except for Espeon and Eevee (Eevee had taken quite the liking to Espeon) and then chose to walk down the stairs instead of taking the elevator.

Green wondered if Eevee ever felt inferior to her relatives; her battle stats were certainly in no comparison to her evolutions'. Well, normal Pikachu's stats were even worse than hers, but Red had turned pikachus into a prized species with his abnormal success with them. If Eevee evolved, Green presumed she'd be an espeon, as she really liked Red's espeon; but maybe she wanted to be an umbreon, as she always seemed more willing to battle in the evenings. But then again, that could just be her being eager to wipe up any losers at the end of the day, or the fact that Green rarely battled in evenings or late afternoons anyway.

275. heterogeneous: not similar; very different; mixed together

Green browsed through his own and other research documents on his phone as he waited for somebody to take his order. The Kalosian restaurant had a nice ambiance, but was fairly crowded, and Green had been shuffled away in a back corner of the restaurant where the tables were small and designed for one or two.

Eevee, with their heterogeneous DNA, had been a favorite and classic study for many scientists. Even those from the same litter had fairly diverse DNA, and scientists had tried to analyze how Eevee were born naturally inclined to a specific Eeveelution, which explained the sometimes violent responses when forced to evolve into an undesired Eeveelution. They'd even experimented with hybridizing Vaporeon and Glaceon, but their offspring simply were Eevee with more inclination towards water and ice.

276. defray: provide for the payment of

A brunette came to take his order, and Green went for the classic Kalosian Onion Soup and Mille-feuille. She then handed him a special drinks menu, apparently a Monday special, and he perused it briefly. He already had set his mind on being moderately healthy, and had planned to just order water when he saw a pokemon he didn't quite recognize on the back page of the menu, posing as if for an advertisement. It looked kind of like an Espeon but way, way more dressed up with rabbit like ears and bows and ribbons.

"Excuse me, do you know what pokemon this?" inquired Green.

"Aha, that's Professor Sycamore's recent discovery, Sylveon! It was one of his side projects on fairy types - it's the fairy type Eeveelution. My mom runs this place and she was close friends with the professor before we moved here, so she wanted to show off a little." The brunette giggled.

"Can I talk to your mom? I did researching on Eeveelutions before and it'd be great if I could talk to her in person." Green offered his most winning smile.

"Sure, but don't even think about using her good favors to defray the payment! If I check and see that she declared food on the house because you seduced her or something, I'm going to find you and make you pay double!" Green sighed. What was it with girls and violence?

277. formidable: inspiring fear or dread

The slim brunette's mom turned out to be a formidably hefty woman who patted his back with enough force to make him cough. She proudly related that Sycamore often had come to her bakery in Kalos to relate his findings and discoveries.

"That was when I was young and pretty, before I met my husband and had my darling. Sycamore was a sweetie pie, but he wasn't the type to sit down and get married if there were mega evolutions to study. My husband owns restaurants around the world, and my daughter and I try to move in between them for work so we can keep in touch, since he's always travelling. I worry that I'm easily forgotten, but Kanto really is a nice place."

278. patrician: a person of refined manners or background; a member of the aristocracy

Green felt a pang of envy as the elderly woman related her story. Her love had lasted strong, and her child was happy despite their turbulent travels. Unlike his own parents, who had split the second things got tough.

"My husband was actually born a patrician, but ran away from home and went to some obscure university in Kalos to study culinary arts and marketing, and here I am today." She laughed a deep booming laugh. "Boy, you're probably no older than twenty but you look as if you've ran out of life to live. Kids like you shouldn't be worrying about research and sciences, go have some fun and try arts or humanities, it'll do you a wonder of good."

279. fume: to be in a state of anger

The woman didn't really have much to say about Sylveon, but Green had heard enough; he'd have to check if his grandpa had anything extra. When she stood up and wiped her hands on her apron, she called out, "I spent my valuable break time to give you some good advice, so make sure you think carefully and enjoy your youth a little more!"

Green's food arrived a couple minutes later, and his mouth watered at the rich smell of soup. He quietly placed some pokefood under the table, to distract Eevee and Espeon as he ate. When the mille-feuille arrived, he ate half, and offered the other to Eevee and Espeon. Eevee fumed a little as if saying, "Only half?" but Espeon dug right in, and Eevee squeaked a little in indignation and joined Espeon.

280. procrastinate: to delay; to put off

Green looked through his crumpled itinerary yet again as he waited for the bill. He'd almost memorized the schedule after seeing it so many times, but took it out to look at it anyway. He was to spend the night in Celadon and then walk or fly to Saffron and spend two nights there, fly to Fuchsia and spend two nights there and then make the long flight to Pallet, stopping by Blaine on the way. After visiting in Pallet, he'd continue on the short flight to Viridian and then be home Saturday night, ready to go up the Mt. Silver the next day. It seemed a little hurried, especially the last day, but he wasn't really procrastinating signature getting. And he'd just have to leave early on Saturday morning to make it home to Viridian in good time.


	29. Chapter 29

Aah weekends are tough so many classes

I typed this all up on my phone so it might be even less coherent than usual sorry whoops and its shorter too sorry

Um I might get another chapter up in four or five hours but i have another class, yeah hopefully i can get two chapters up today ehehee...

and thanks so much for reviewing and favoriting and following, it really boosts my dying ego cause i get the feeling that my writing is kinda forced half the time cause the words are pretty random so its hard to link them and have a plot

* * *

281. yoke: to join together; to unite closely

With no desire to explore the friendly yet vaguely suspicious streets of Celadon (was that a kid smoking oddish?), Green stayed cooped up in his room, yet again typing. The thought of Yellow and Leaf together was oddly fitting, and he tried to focus but couldn't quite expel the thought from his mind. Yellow probably had some special talent and Leaf probably had yoked her to a job and discovered potential or something.

282. circumscribe: to define the limits of, to limit

Green knew his ability to spew out good writing was severely circumscribed if he was distracted, so he tried to drown out his own thoughts by playing music. It was working fine until he got sucked up into the music as well and started accidentally writing words from the song into his analysis: "Exposure to certain kinds of radiation unique to Eterna Forest leads to an animal, baby it's in your nature, just let me liberate y-"

283. resonant: strong and deep in tone

Green forced himself to proofread and then caught himself making so many weird mistakes that he resigned to listening to songs in foreign languages or just dubstep so he'd stop losing track. But then again, something about the resonant and husky voice of Wang Feng made him google lyrics translations and hum along. All in all it was a drowsy and unproductive afternoon.

284. relief: a distinction or prominence due to contrast

Evening sun streamed through the windows, casting long shadows and bringing white bed sheets into relief from dark shade. That too got distracting, with stripes of light on bright white sheets burning into his eyeballs if Green happened to look up from his laptop. Eevee and Espeon were getting especially bored with napping and lounging all day had started kicking up a ruckus. Green couldn't even fake being busy and was forced to join in their game of tag, or be shadow balled. Or whacked in the rear.

285. Machiavellian: practicing deceit or cunning; favoring expediency over moral principle

When Green gave up on chasing the elusive Espeon, he lay on his back panting as Eevee and Espeon watched him. They decided to laugh at him from the railing of the balcony and purr and growl in poke-language. Green wondered if Espeon was actually engaging in a Machiavellian plan of sorts to tire the trainer and then take his wallet and his valuables and then run back to Red. Or maybe he was just talking to Eevee. Or flirting.

286. harbor: to give shelter; to entertain or nourish (a specific thought or feeling)

Before Green could harbor and more suspicions of Eevee turning into a rebellious Green-hating feral, she jumped off the railing to crawl onto his stomach and purr happily. Espeon looked mildly displeased, and Green briefly wondered if the two really had some chemistry going along.

287. havoc: great destruction and devastation

Espeon stared at Green, but it wasn't just a blank Red state but more of an aggressive stare. Green swore he began to see a purplish aura arise, but before all havoc was wreaked, Eevee's stomach interrupted, and whatever tense atmosphere that had developed then disappeared. Green chuckled in both amusement and relief, and then mused dinner plans out loud.

288. premeditate: to think out, plan, or scheme beforehand

Green had premeditated a walk around Celadon that would make a loop and eventually come back around to the restaurant he wanted to check out and then go back to the hotel, but Eevee wasn't feeling up to salad and veggies. She nodded furiously when he mentioned Unovan burgers and Kalosian fries, and Green gave in reluctantly. Eevee had been whacking him and bullying him all day, and seemed to have no consideration for Green's health. Green sighed.

289. recumbent: lying down in a position of comfort

Green agreed on the condition that before eating, they run loops through the city until he'd burned around seven hundred calories, which would be about six or so miles. Eevee snorted; she had no problem with stamina, so she agreed readily.

Now Green had never run cross country (he played badminton for a couple years in school), but he thought himself fit enough to last a long run. But after only four miles he was lying on a park side bench, recumbent and sweating with Eevee barely panting and Espeon completely fine.

290. demean: to disrespect; to lower; to degrade; to ridicule

However, Green was a proud man (although with not so solid muscles), and he was not about to demean himself by going back on his word. After resting for five minutes and letting his heart beat slow a little, he got up to keep jogging the last two miles. Eevee looked somewhat surprised (that kind of hurt Green's feelings) and pranced along. When they completed the last two miles, Green was soaked in perspiration and smiling in satisfaction. Eevee nudged him to keep walking to the fast food joint, and Green was feeling accomplished and loose-muscles enough to just topple over and land on his rear.

People across the street stared at him oddly, but he lay on the asphalt, absorbing the heat from the rapidly cooling ground. The sun had set about twenty minutes before, and wispy purple clouds drifted in fading light. He sighed, but stood up hastily when Eevee pouted. Yes, time to get fat and waste all the effort.


	30. Chapter 30

ick sorry it ended up taking 6 hours not 4-5 whoops

* * *

291. chide: to scold

Green was pleased to note that the fast food joint offered salad, but balked at the calorie count; the calorie count for the salad was almost double that of the cheeseburger. He ordered the cheeseburger, and could imagine Leaf chiding him for caring so much about his weight.

292. byzantine: highly complicated or intricate; characterized by devious plotting

Green had become really weight conscious after one Sunday, he caught Red fresh out of the bathtub. There really was no Byzantine reason  
for Green's health concerns; Green was not anorexic and did not have self image problems. It was just, well, Red was lean but fit and almost solid muscle from eating nothing but vegetables and fruits and eggs and the occasional meat Green brought. Green, a good rival, felt obliged to cut down on fatty foods to match Red but had never quite gained the same muscle mass.

293. lull: to soothe or calm; to deceive into trustfulness

Eevee happily devoured the fries and cooed her satisfaction. Green rested his head on his palm and shut his eyes, the hum of conversation soothing. Though he felt quite disgusting and sweaty (his feet hurt pretty bad; his shoes were waterproof hiking boots, but they were heavy and not suited for running), he also felt proud and tired. Neon lights flickered dimly, and a lull fell over the normally hectic city of Celadon.

Green could have dozed off right then, but Espeon sent some kind of psychic wave into his head that made him have a brain splitting headache. He shot up in his chair, hitting his head on the low hanging lamp, and cursed under his breath. The purple feline was sleepy and eager to be recalled. Green shot the pokeball's red laser at the pokemon a little angrily before sighing and rubbing his head.

294. homogeneous: uniform; of the same kind

Green had been unable to finish the orange juice he'd ordered (17 and drinking orange juice was totally ok) so he decided on keeping it in the hotel room's fridge and drinking it the next morning.

To his surprise, Eevee was still full with energy even as they trudged back. Green knew that Eevee was all for night time romps, but he'd never been sure if that was because he was bottle up in his room all day or if Eevee just really like night time. Green, his eyes bleary and his body tired, simply followed the hyper pokemon to the hotel, and drearily picked up his legs one by one to climb the stairs.

After arriving at his room, he put the lidded cup of orange juice into the tiny, dank smelling refrigerator. Showering and washing and brushing did not do much to increase his level of awareness, so when he flopped onto the bed he immediately passed out.

The next morning featured several surprises. One of the stranger ones was that his supposedly homogeneous orange juice had settled into a layer of pulp and a layer of watery juice. He grimaced and tossed the cup in the trash can.

295. hypothesis: a tentative explanation; something assumed true for the sake of argument or investigation

The more exciting surprise was that Eevee had literally transformed overnight; she'd evolved into an Umbreon. Green had made quite a few hypotheses on her eventual transformation, and thus was not incredibly shocked, but he was ecstatic to see that she'd finally made the decision to evolve. He assured her of his happiness by giving her a Daisy-style massage (Daisy'd forced him to learn it and it proved to be extremely helpful and boosting friendliness) and dishing out extra treats.

296. shoal: an area of shallow water

Before leaving for Saffron, Green grabbed a handful of newspapers to occupy him during the flight. On the front cover, that ridiculous Team Plasma had yet again made headlines, this time talking about the brutality of humans that participated in aquaculture and bulldozed coral reefs and shoals.

297. satire: irony, sarcasm, or caustic wit used to attack human vice or folly, especially in a literary work

Green really found Team Plasma to be nothing more than a joke. They seemed to satirize the human race itself in their propaganda half the time. Honestly, pokemon were extremely powerful and fully capable of uniting and starting a rebellion if they found it necessary; in fact, humans had almost nothing in terms of ability to defend from wild pokemon attacks on their own. Domesticated pokemon chose to be with humans for company and for adventure; if they ever chose to run away, there was really not much to stop them.

298. goad: to prod or urge, as if with a pointed stick

Green read through the article and got more and more frustrated at the lack of logic in Plasma's argument, and goaded Pidgeotto to fly faster. He was having difficulty flipping to other pages because of the wind, and he thought it'd be better to just wait until he landed to finish up the newspaper.

299. figment: something that is created; something that is imagined

Route 7 was fairly short, and Pidgeotto slowed down for landing only a half an hour or so after taking flight. Among the flashing signboards of Saffron, he spotted a picture of Gold and Silver hugging; what the heck? It was some LGBT ad, and Green wasn't sure whether to feel surprised the two actually were a couple (their names were impossibly coincidental... Not like Green was one to speak) or amazed that Silver would willingly broadcast his relationship. Well, judging by his sour face (that blush was probably photoshopped; maybe the whole thing was photoshopped), he had probably not participated willingly. Green snapped a picture just to make sure. Silver would probably dismiss it as a figment if Green's imagination if he didn't have evidence.

300. centrifugal: moving away from the center

Pidgeotto banked sharply to avoid some crazy spearows. Green almost dropped right off because of the centrifugal force (centripetal actually, centrifugal force was a fictitious force) and the fact that his hands had not been clinging into Pidgeotto's neck feathers and instead busy trying to focus his phone camera on the ad. Green cursed as he felt himself lose contact with the bird, and panicked - and then Pidgeotto caught him and cooed apologetically before landing roughly.


	31. Chapter 31

slightly longer chapter?

* * *

301. eyesore: something that is unpleasant or offensive to view

If Celadon was crowded, Saffron was downright flooded with people. Trainers from Johto flooded the city as the Magnet Train whooshed back and forth at high speeds carrying hundreds of trainers between the regions daily. The Silph Company building was something of an eyesore, towering above the rest of the building ominously; most of the locals didn't know too much of the Rockets and thus didn't have many bad memories of the building, but Green hated the place. He could still vividly remember seeing Red, exhausted and still trying to take down Giovanni. Green'd tried to take down Red so that he'd maybe rethink the impossibility of taking down an evil organization's leader flying solo - but Red had still managed to beat both him and Giovanni and limp back out alive.

302. decimate: to destroy or kill a large part of (a group)

On his way out of the building, Green noticed the complete absence of Rocket members, excluding the few that were knocked unconscious here or there. Red had essentially single-handedly decimated the whole organization, and Green had simply turned into another obstacle in Red's way.

Saffron was not a place of sweet memories, and Green was tempted to simply cut to the chase and beat Sabrina, then run for Blaine and go home and beat Koga up at Indigo Plateau instead of crossing his fingers and hoping Janine would be at the gym. That idea seemed more and more plausible as he recalled that Blaine would be at the Fighting Dojo that afternoon to accept rematches. Wow; he'd just be wasting a couple hundred dollars in hotel reservations, and maybe less if the hotel managers weren't assholes and offered some form of refund.

303. libel: a false written statement that damages a person's reputation

Green called Leaf to talk about his proposal, and she picked up only after the fourth call. She sounded quite pissed as if she'd just been woken up, and refused to let Green come home early; but right before Green hung up, he heard a voice that sounded quite certainly like Yellow's.

"Leaf... is that Yellow?"

"...Mhm. Wait how... you and Yellow are?"

"Uh, I met her at Celadon when she was working... and did you really invite her to my house?"

"Uh, no?"

"...If you did anything on the couch, you better clean it up good." Green grimaced. "Also, you can't sue me for libel if I decide to talk, because technically it's true when I say that you swing both ways now, eh?" Leaf's fanbase was quite dedicated. In fact, her fanbase might be even more dangerous than Green's.

"Green you assho-"

"Ok ok fine, just file for refunds and then we're all good?"

"...You little fu-" Green quite happily ended the call there.

304. coerce: to force by threat or intimidation

It wasn't often that Green had to coerce Leaf into doing him a favor, since she usually complied fairly easily (she did owe him quite a lot of money). Yellow must have been really special. Green'd thought Yellow was only some kind of coworker fling but Leaf seemed to take the girl pretty seriously. To say the least, he was surprised by Leaf's dedication.

305. cursory: superficially done; performed rapidly

A cursory glance at the itinerary was enough for Green to remember the schedule exactly. Leaf had planned for him to find the worker in Silph Co. who'd given him the Up-Grade for Porygon. The plan was to ask for tips on evolving Porygon2 into Porygon-Z, since Porygon2 had settled into Green's desktop to munch on spam and organize emails and had stopped battling. Porygon-Z were well known for their high intelligence that was superior to almost all documented pokemon; Gramps would definitely appreciate a look at the rare pokemon.

306. cumbersome: clumsy or difficult to manage

Remembering the warp portals in Silph Co. was even more frustrating the Green had predicted it to be, as they proved incredibly cumbersome and disorienting. After about an hour of warping, Green finally found the worker, mumbling in front of a computer.

"Hey." No response. Green put a hand on the man's shoulder, and he jumped.

"Uh, uh, good evening! How can I help you? Oh, it's Green, how's Porygon2?"

"It's morning, and Porygon2 is fine. I'm sure you've heard of the PorygonZ from Sinnoh, do you know how I can evolve Porygon2?"

"Hm-m-m, let's see..." He turned back to face the computer and browsed through a couple files. "Aha, Professor Rowan gave me a heads up a while back, and I've been meaning to give it to you - some rowdy trainer sold it at the Department Store and I ordered it to be shipped over... Where is it..." He pulled up a file. "Aha! I got the disk's software downloaded, and it does look quite suspicious but I'm pretty sure the design was for Porygon's final evolution. Do you have Porygon2 with you?"

307. fester: to rot; to decay; to putrefy

Green left off of staring at a festering banana peel. This place didn't get cleaned very often.

"Yeah, he's in my pokedex when I travel." He pulled out the device, and the pokemon poked its head out in a very convincing hologram.

"Good! I'll connect your pokedex and see if he'd like to try out the data and maybe evolve."

308. deem: to have as an opinion; to consider

Green deemed the worker harmless, but a bit too helpful; it was fairly suspicious, for why would someone do so much for a stranger anyways? Porygon2 happily jumped into the computer and began swimming around in the code, while the worker happily documented the progress. Green sat down in a dirty looking chair and flipped through a couple disk holders sitting on the worker's desk. He found one whose design and logo looked exactly like that on the software's icon; he opened it and found a purple disk with sharpie scribbles. "Dubious Disk." Shady? Suspicious?

309. connote: to imply something beyond a literal meaning

"Why're you so happy to give me this software? It's pretty rare and hard to come by."

"I like y-" Green suppressed a grimace, "your porygon. I lived in Lavender Town for a long time and I saw a porygon ghost, and it tracked me down and sent me really nice emails and we've become best buddies since. I like their whole species; selfless happy manmade things happy with their creators are pretty rare, ya know." Green deadpanned. Software pokemon couldn't exactly die, and that just connoted that one, this dude lived in a freaking ghost town, and two, he was probably insane. There was so many things wrong with his logic, that Green just chose to brush it off and go with the flow.

310. rash: showing boldness or haste without judgment

"Your Porygon2's a rash one," the worker laughed. "He didn't bother decoding to check if the data was dangerous before jut letting himself undergo evolution. He'll be done in a couple minutes; my computer's not slow, but this file is a pretty dang big one."

Green gave up on trying to make sense of why anybody would choose to live in such a messed up building (maybe Lavender had messed up the guy so bad he couldn't even live in a normal place anymore without feeling the weirdness) and resigned to looking at cute pictures of Eevee on his phone. That was normally soothing, but the thought that he now had a sleek, beautiful Umbreon instead of a slightly pudgy Eevee made the photos more nostalgic. It wasn't like Umbreon wasn't cute - it just wasn't the same as having a chubby brown furball.

Wow, an Umbreon. The meaning of the evolution had yet to hit him. His starter had at last decided to evolve after seven long years since their first meeting. He'd be awestruck later - right now he had to focus on this probably insane man and figure out how to get home to hug Umbreon and celebrate later.


	32. Chapter 32

i like flowers but they're so damn expensive

like seriously search up Juliet roses they're so pretty and horribly expensive

* * *

311. jeremiad: an elaborate and lengthy tale of sadness

Porygon-Z emerged from the computer soon enough, levitating with somewhat disturbing bulls-eye like eyes. Green patted the pokemon, which hummed and then retreated back into his pokedex. The worker was crying, presumably in pride. He had just begun to elaborate on his relationship with the deceased porygon (? how did that work?) and Green hastily left with a forced smile to avoid being forced to attend to the worker's unnerving jeremiad.

312. matriarch: a woman who rules a family or clan; a highly respected woman who is a mother

Leaf didn't have much else for him to do, so Green went ahead to the Saffron gym. He was already quite well versed in Umbreon's stats, having done a ton of research on the Eeveelutions already. Umbreon already knew how to fire shadow balls, and her type advantage would make Sabrina's gym a breeze. Last time he'd battled her, he'd had to simply use Gyarados and Arcanine to overpower her pokemon.

As he prepared to enter, he got a call from Daisy. Since having her first child two years ago, she'd named herself family matriarch and made it her job to check on the professor and Green every once in a while - when she decided to call, she didn't stop calling until you picked up (Green had silenced his phone once when he took a nap and woke up two hours later with 50 missed calls).

"Hello?"

313. limber: bending easily; flexible

"Hey Green! Porygon2 - no, Porygon-Z came to visit! I was writing an email to one of my massage customers when he just popped up to say hello. Oh, and I thought I'd let you know, a customer all the way from Kalos came to visit with a... a... oh, a Hawlucha! I think it's the first limber flying type; it's immune to paralysis and yeah, I thought it'd be an interesting research prospect. How're you doing?"

"Um Daisy, Hawlucha made headlines in the research community a while back... I'm fine."

"I heard from Leaf that you li-" Green face palmed. "you love Red."

314. demure: coy; modest; reserved

"Uh... yeah. I do." Green had honestly not expected his confession to his family to take place so soon.

Daisy squealed. "Green, Green, Green! I'm so happy, it's about time you admit it! Red's demure and nice and strong, you two make a good match! Go for it!"

"...wait, you knew I liked him already?"

"Psh, it was so _obvious_. I am your sister, just saying, and I was the one who watched you two pretty much get married in the rose bushes when you were six? I think I still have a picture," she broke off, laughing, while Green was blushing up a storm. "I was worried you'd never talk to me about it!"

315. pilfer: to steal a small amount

"... does Gramps know?"

Daisy hummed. "Mmm... probably. Yeah, definitely. Red's birthday is coming up by the way, mind if I pilfer some of the flowers you planted at the ranch and tie them up in a bouquet? They're for Red anyways right?"

316. gargantuan: of huge size or capacity

"...You can take the Lisianthus or lilies of the valley, but do _not_ touch the Juliet Roses. Heck, send me a picture of the ones you're picking, because those babies were crazy expensive and I've been having a special gardener take care of them..."

Daisy just laughed at his protectiveness. "Does Red know you've become a flower fanatic?"

Green blushed as he pursed his lips. "I remember mom really liked flowers ok? I found a picture of her and dad at their wedding in a gargantuan field somewhere in Floaroma, so she'd probably passed the plant loving gene to me."

317. flag: to slow down in pace

Green blasted through Sabrina's gym at top speed, using Umbreon to mow down all the psychic pokemon. Umbreon laughed at Sabrina's Espeon (Red's was at least thirty levels higher) and wiped her team out. Sabrina, if she was reading Green's mind, was probably extremely offended by the minimal attention Green was paying to her battle, and had her Mr. Mime forge her signature on Green's petition.

Green was rushing because Daisy was sending him pictures of bright red, romantic and way too obvious roses. Her texts finally flagged when Green started offering recommendations of her just going to a flower shop and staying out of _his_ very well kept flower garden. Green relaxed when she started selecting breeds more carefully, going for his white Asiatic lilies and white narcissus instead. He ok'ed her selection at last after at least 200 texts.

318. diagnosis: the recognition of a disease or injury by symptoms; a critical analysis of the nature of something

After regaining his cool and making a quick diagnosis on Umbreon's health, he went out for lunch and tried regaining Espeon's good favor by letting the two Eeveelutions share a bowl of Miltank milk. Espeon eyed him suspiciously but proceeded to lick Umbreon and nuzzle her in congratulations for her evolution. Despite the unlucky and negative associations generally made with dark types, Umbreon still had her cheerful innocence from her Eevee days.

319. foolhardy: reckless; bold without judgment

Green realized the difficulty he'd have transporting a bouquet up the mountain. In fact, that seemed more and more embarrassing the more he thought about his foolhardy decision in allowing Daisy to choose flowers of anything.

320. incriminate: to make appear guilty of a crime or fault

Daisy was probably trying to incriminate Green as a hopeless romantic too. She'd probably already begun sketching arrangements (she took his hardier roses for decorating her workplace all the time, and Green had started to complain when she'd cut extra and not plan carefully), and the flowers were actually for Red too. Not that he'd admit it. He'd have to bring a manual for drying and preserving flowers, too. So how much stuff was that right now; canvases, oil paints, brushes, a palette, a bouquet, and obviously cake... Green might have to ask Leaf to bring Yellow along too to help carry stuff up...


	33. Chapter 33

holy crap i just realized i forgot about janine lolwhoops well well well um lets see if i can fix that plothole

i adjusted 301-310 hehe sorry but pretty much all i wrote was that Janine never is in the gym (cause we all know that she's buddy buddy with falkner way over in johto hoho) so Green was planning to go to see Koga instead

* * *

321. flaunt: to display ostentatiously; to show off; to boast

Green did not mean to his flaunt his power, but the annoying small-fry trainers didn't really believe his as gym-leader material when he shouldered his way in the fighting dojo to meet with Blaine. Blaine got along with kids splendidly when he wasn't busy conjuring up Arceus knows what in his lab, and the whole dojo was flooded with young trainers. Green eventually got around to releasing Blastoise to show off some authority - that silenced the kids quick, and he quickly made his way to Blaine, who was still animatedly discussing exactly how Rapidash grazed without lighting whole prairies on fire.

322. exploit: a bold or daring act

Only when Blaine found the young trainer he was lecturing lose interest all of a sudden did he look up to see Green.

"Ho ho! If it isn't Green on his exploit to conquer the gyms of Kanto!" Blaine conjured up a mild applause. Some of the older teens stared at him in recognition - the champion of thirty minutes. "Are you here to ask for my approval?"

Green nodded.

"Ho-ohkay! I had planned to support your rebellion peacefully, but with all these young trainers, my fiery spirit burns! Let's have a rematch!"

323. impervious: completely resistant to penetration; unaffected

Green tried to remain impervious to the stares he was getting from Blaine's theatrical performance.

"It's a 3 on 3, no switching unless a pokemon faints!" Green pulled out Aerodactyl and after a second's deliberation, Umbreon.

324. plaintive: expressing sorrow

Blaine's magcargo fainted within twenty seconds of the battle with a well aimed water gun. Green winced at the fiery snail toppled over with a plaintive cry as Blaine recalled it. Green then crossed his fingers and hoped that Blaine's admirers wouldn't kill him for a one-sided thrashing.

The battle quickly became more interesting as Blaine pulled out his special Magmar. The crazy thing knew some weird moves; it dodged a hydrocannon and surprised Blastoise with a thunderpunch. Blastoise was then paralyzed, and unable to dodge a disorienting confuse ray. Green swore as he recalled Blaine's no switching rule. Another thunderpunch and Blastoise went down. Green swallowed in... excitement. This was the real deal.

325. culpable: deserving blame or punishment

Green sent out Aerodactyl next, who went with a good old earthquake to knock out Magmar in one solid hit. Blaine gave him a thumbs up, and then sent out his Rapidash. The fiery horse nearly hit Aerodactyl out of the sky as the fossil pokemon prepared to dive onto the ground to incite another earthquake. Green fist pumped when Aerodactyl dodged the attack; Green'd never seen a horse been able to attack a flying pokemon with a bounce and a jump. The Rapidash was unable to stop its momentum fast enough to jump airborne to avoid the next earthquake.

Although the arena, like in most official battling buildings, was set off from the rest of the building so that the spectators wouldn't be harmed by large scale attacks like earthquake or surf (psychic pokemon created a soundproof barrier to prevent anything besides maybe air pass to and from the arena), Green felt that he was just a little culpable for tearing up the arena floor pretty badly. He grinned a little sheepishly, and as the barrier went down, he was surprised to hear cheers. He had half expected some dirty stares or looks for beating such a well respected idol, but the audience seemed to consist of mostly young trainers who still held up to good sportsmanship.

326. pontificate: to speak pompously and at length

Blaine also cheerily and heartily squeezed his hand and pumped it rigorously. Green massaged his hand as Blaine let go to sign the petition. Sensing Blaine was about to pontificate a speech of congratulation, Green bowed his head quickly before hopping out of the building, and ran.

327. sentiment: a feeling or opinion, especially based on emotion instead of reason

Though friendly enough, the young trainers sprinting after him simply did not seem to understand his sentiment of _freaking leave me alone_ and continued to pursue him through the crowded streets of Saffron. As he ran, Green fiddled with his pokeballs, trying to find Pidgeotto's, all the while freaking out as the sprinters got way too close for comfort. _  
_

At last, he released the pokemon that he'd thought to be Pidgeotto. It was a flying type - but more of the aggressive fire breathing dragon type. Charizard quickly assessed the situation, slapped Green on the stomach with his tail so hard that Green was winded and _airborne_, and then let Green fall on his back before flapping his mighty wings and taking off.

328. interloper: one who interferes with the affairs of others; a meddler

Charizard rapidly outpaced the interlopers and Green groaned on his back; his ribs hurt something fierce, and he might as well have broken a couple with that whack. But he was on Charizard's back. Which means for some reason or the other, Charizard had decided to be cheery today and not hang him by the arms.

Green stopped just south, at Vermilion, and as he landed, he thanked Charizard and inhaled the quite familiar smell of ocean and... drugs. He brought his team to the nurse, who happily took Blastoise and Umbreon and Aerodactyl. The other four remained in Green's pocket as he walked about and waited for their treatment.

329. delectable: very pleasing; delightful, especially to the taste

Green went shopping for supposedly delectable poketreats, and dished them out to everybody when he retrieved Blastoise and Umbreon and Aerodactyl from the pokecenter. Green was essentially done with his journey; Janine might or might not be in Fuchsia, as she frequently spirited off to travel and train (or maybe see Falkner, ooh). It'd be easier to find Koga; harder to battle yes, but definitely easier to find. Also, since Koga was at Indigo Plateau, he'd be able to deliver the papers to Lance as well, killing two birds with one stone.

330. blemish: a flaw that harms the appearance of something

After a devouring a couple energy bars, Green mounted Pidgeotto and prepared for the long flight to Pallet. He rubbed some of Pidgeotto's singed feathers, blemishes on his otherwise evenly colored plumage. The bird would soon be free to go home.


	34. Chapter 34

im very sorry to anybody currently confused by my writing... ill probably be revising everything post exams but right now im in a bit of speed writing spree and trying to balance life

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331. equanimity: evenness of temper, especially as a characteristic state

Green was pleased by Pidgeotto's drastically improved flying style. For a while, they flew with the Wingulls that were on their way west, and despite his normal objections to flying with wild flocks, Green was pleased by their speed and maintained equanimity.

332. peevish: irritable; querulous

After several hours, the sun had set and Pidgeotto was straining his eyes to see land. Green had released Umbreon for her night vision, and then she demanded that he release Espeon as well. With 3 bodies on his back, Pidgeotto had become a little peevish, and Green freaked out when Umbreon called something out and the bird dove down sharply.

After landing in a flurry of feathers, Pidgeotto deposited one agitated human and two Eeveelutions. Umbreon had guided the bird right to the door of Professor Oak's laboratory, and Green rummaged through his pockets to find the lab key. Since he and the professor often spent long nights on certain projects, sleeping quarters had been added to the laboratory.

333. waddle: to walk rocking from side to side

Pidgeotto waddled a few steps into the building before cawing and demanding that Green recall him. Green did so absentmindedly and weighed his options. He felt obliged to say hi to Daisy but it was indeed 9:30 PM and an odd hour to drop by unannounced. It'd been a long day, and he just wanted to avoid talking and excitement in general.

But Leaf must have planted a tracker on his phone or something, because just as he was flicking on the light in the sleeping room (not quite a bedroom, more of a cot-room) she texted him.

9:37 PM - Leaf: get ur ass over to Daisy's

9:38 PM - Green: wtf

9:38 PM - Green: how

9:38 PM - Leaf: im at her house so hurry up

9:38 PM - Green: wat

9:38 PM - Leaf: im watching u

9:39 PM - Leaf: literally on the GPS

9:39 PM - Green: ...

9:39 PM - Green: ok coming (sent)

Green sighed and rubbed his forehead before flicking off the light and proceeding to dim all the lights he'd just turn on. Professor Oak was gone, as expected, but the place was clean and dust free. Somebody would probably come in to check the next morning and freak out at the miraculously, ghost opened doors.

334. gross: total, entire; glaringly obvious, flagrant

Espeon retired to his pokeball but Umbreon remained out, reveling in the familiarity of the dirt.

9:44 PM - Leaf: walk faster pls (read)

Green deadpanned and clicked through his phone to disable GPS functions.

9:45 PM - Leaf: lol dude i implanted the chip in your phone so you cant delete it

9:45 PM - Leaf: btw Daisy makes good bouquets

9:45 PM - Leaf: i might steal some for Yellow k

9:46 PM - Leaf: Red's bouquet probably gross value of $250 at least nice (read)

Green deadpanned. How many flower did Daisy use?

9:48 PM - Green: can u check if she used a juliet

9:48 PM - Leaf: wtf is that (read)

Green attached an image of his prized flower and sent it.

9:50 PM - Leaf: ya i think so haha (read)

Leaf replied with a picture of the bouquet.

335. skew: to place at an angle; to cause bias in or distort

True enough, the bouquet centered around a single Juliet, it's pearly and translucent pink petals forming the centerpiece of white and very pale pink flowers. Some of the lilies were stylishly skew, but they were arranged to attract attention to the beautiful rose.

9:52 PM - Green: omg

9:52 PM - Green: thats rlly pretty but holy shiet thats like $360 with just juliet and elodie asiatic (sent)

He switched out of the chat screen and found Daisy's contact.

9:53 PM - Green: Daisy wtf pls y u do this (sent)

He waited for a reply, but after a minute there was none so he pocketed his phone and picked up the pace. Just another block and he'd be at Daisy's.

336. humdrum: dull; routine; commonplace

9:56 PM - Daisy: Hi Green! I thought you'd like paler colors

9:56 PM - Daisy: Like Red's skin ;)

9:56 PM - Daisy: I was going for an all red bouquet at first but their color doesn't last too well in cold, right?

9:56 PM - Daisy: Don't want my bouquet to look humdrum after only a week or so (read)

Green sighed yet again, and instead of replying, walked up the few steps to Daisy's front door and rang the doorbell.

337. marshal: to arrange in order

Green carefully marshaled his thoughts to prepare an appropriate expression for Daisy when she opened the door. He decided on a reluctant smile, because he really did like the bouquet even if it ate another chunk out of his wallet. He'd probably have to stay at Viridian to work for half a busy year to make up what he lost. Heck, he might even start up another job like all the other leaders that did hobbies or other work outside of gym leading.

338. aggregate: total; clustered in a dense mass or head

Daisy opened the door cheerfully, before frowning at the cold and dragging Green in the door and slamming the door shut.

"Hey I know you didn't want me to use the Juliets but they make such a nice centerpiece! Here here, I just finished arranging a couple hours ago!" She pulled Green by the elbow into the kitchen, where the bouquet sat wrapped carefully in plastic and tied with a red and green ribbon. The aggregate flower bloomed proudly at the center, its swirls of fairy pink petals blushing.

"It's really great... Thanks Daisy." Green broke free of Daisy's grasp to examine the flowers. Daisy watched her little brother in pride, before hugging his back tightly.

"You really need to visit more often..." She murmured.

"OkbutI'mchokingDaisy-"

339. intemperate: lacking in moderation; excessive

Leaf was lounging in the living room, chugging a beer.

Green raised an eyebrow.

Ever since Leaf had visited Kalos, she took to occasional but intemperate drinking. Green had probably gone through two beers in his whole life, and here was Leaf drowning in around four.

340. veer: to change in direction

"Yellow thinks I'm straiiighttt~" She cried out. Green veered to the side as Leaf reached out to grab him. "She thinks I like you but you like Red and so she's- she thinks she's supporting a lo-loooove triangle~" Leaf sang out the last two words a little sarcastically. "She leeeeft Greenie, she le-e-eeeft..." Leaf was crying into the couch. Daisy nudged him.

"It was supposed to be a girl's night thing since my husband left for a business trip this afternoon, but it somehow turned into this..."

Green cursed the horrors of alcohol and rummaged through Daisy's allergy medicines and hodgepodge of medications to find sleeping pills. "Leaf can get pretty impulsive when she's drunk, so let's get her sleeping before she tries to jump in the ocean and drown her sorrow..." Daisy disappeared into her room and came back, tossing him a package. Oaks had a thing with insomnia, and though he'd gotten over it with some counselling, Daisy had never quite pushed herself to.


	35. Chapter 35

holy shit crashing chrome is the bane of my existence

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341. rapture: the experience of great joy; ecstasy

Green hurriedly mixed in the sleeping powder to a glass of water as Leaf made an offhand comment about how swimming in the ocean would be a great way to ease her sadness. She was currently in a rapture describing the crystal clear waters of of the Johto coast and the sapphire blue oceans of Hoenn. She was dazedly listing off all the documented water pokemon in the world, and Green belatedly wondered why Leaf seemed to think Salamence was a water type.

342. contemplate: to look at or think about carefully; to consider as a possibility

Green coaxed Leaf to drink the mixture, and then contemplated how long he had before she'd hurl. Not long - she gagged a couple seconds later and Green sprinted for the trash can and just barely got it in place in time to save the lovely carpet from being scarred. He wrinkled his nose a little at the smell - although Leaf came to cry and drown in alcohol while he stared and promised to Arceus that he'd never drink more than a bottle, one really could not get accustomed to the smell.

Meanwhile, Daisy was bustling about to set up a futon in the empty guest room (she had been planning to transform it into a at-home massage room so that she wouldn't have to travel for work). As she slapped her hands together to get rid of dusk, she called out to Green in the living room. "Greeeeen! Did you eat anything yet?"

343. savor: to taste or smell, especially with pleasure

Green inhaled deeply and savored the smell of Daisy's fried rice. She'd used leftover rice and pieces of meat to assemble the meal, but somehow the very humble ingredients made him yet again appreciate Daisy's natural talent for cooking (he could only get food to work with him if he tried really hard). Her fried rice gave him a happy nostalgia, unlike the oily and spicy rice that of Celadon.

344. incontrovertible: impossible to dispute

Daisy was massaging Leaf's temples with a wet towel. "It was supposed to be a girl's night sort of thing since my husband left this afternoon on a business trip," she commented. "I wasn't expecting her to break down like this. I don't think she's ever broken down because of a romance."

Green wondered how Yellow could misunderstand Leaf's devotion. Heck, the facts were incontrovertible; Leaf had stayed in touch with Yellow for so long, and Leaf never stayed in touch with _anybody_ except for the Pallet Town circle; nearly all the contacts in her phone had never been called or texted. Despite her gregarious and travel loving behavior, Leaf did not often make close friends, so just her and Yellow being so close already said something huge.

345. graze: to feed on grasses

After finishing his fried rice, Green washed his plate and the pot, trying to minimize clanging sounds to keep Leaf asleep. Daisy had rolled Leaf onto her side so that if she did puke, she wouldn't choke, and Leaf was still sobbing a little in her sleep. Daisy had placed a cool towel on her head and retire to sleep for the night, and Green did too after double checking that the doors were locked and the blinds shut, so that Leaf wouldn't go popping off into the ocean first thing when the sun rose.

Green collapsed into his futon, staring at the ceiling and recalling the days before he and Gramps had moved out of the house to give Daisy and her husband privacy. Insects called out, accompanied by nocturnal birds' hoots.

The sun stabbed his eyeballs the next morning - his room's window faced east, and the sun had no mercy for late sleepers. He grumpily got up to close the blinds, but stared out and rested his chin on his hands, leaning on the windowsill. He could see the ranch, and far away he could see the lab too - some tauros were already up and grazing. It was such a stereotypical scene of pastoral peace, that Green let memories wash over him.

346. coincide: to occur at the same time or be at the same place; to agree exactly

The early morning coincided with a memory from when he was five, and had woken up after a sleepover with Red to see the black-haired boy staring out the window at the ranch. At that time, there was only a ravenous flaaffy that kept the grass in check, and the flaaffy's doubtlessly powerful stomach was often subject to their discussion. Red was observing the pink grass eating beast in curiosity, and Green recalled staring at Red from his half of the futon and wondering what Red would look like when he was old and sun burned, with fluffy white hair... kind of like a flaafy.

347. portray: to make a likeness of; to describe in words

Green had startled Red with his proclamation that Red would look like a flaafy in fifty years (Red thought Green was asleep). Red just didn't get how old humans looked like flaafy. Green pulled out some crayons and tried to portray his mental image of Red's growth. He started with a picture of them together, small and holding hands. The next picture was when they were ten, and pokemon masters; the legs were a little longer, and Green was taller, but they still held hands. After that was twenty - they both had long arms and legs and Green was still taller, and the hand holding stayed. At last was them at fifty - Red had spontaneously transformed into a flaafy, and Green had turned into a mareep.

348. furrow: a trench in the earth made by a plow; a wrinkle

Red had smiled at Green's scribbles, and Green was laughing his heart out at the picture of them as sheep holding hands. Professor Oak ahd found them, and before telling Green to quiet down, he saw the picture and analyzed it. A furrow formed between his eyebrows and then as Green avidly explained his and Red's evolution, the professor had smiled broadly and scanned the photo, saving it onto his computer before framing it and hanging it in his office.

349. quaff: to drink quickly or with enthusiasm

The day before Green and Red were ready to start of their journey, Green had begged the professor to take down the photo. The professor had chuckled merrily before declining and quaffing his boiling hot coffee to start off the morning. Green had desperately come up with arrogant words to distract Red from turning observant eyes to the paper, and the distraction worked, but started a hostile rivalry.

After the battle at Indigo, Green had flown home to Professor Oak's empty office (the professor was out congratulating Red) and stared blankly at the image. He was tempted to throw the frame, glass cover and all, to the floor and watch it smash into a thousand tiny pieces. However, when he picked it up, he found a cute drawing of an Eevee and a Pikachu hugging on the back of the original drawing. It had been sketched neatly in pencil, and Green recognized it as Red's art style. As he turned the image under the light, he found a faded, erased image behind the Eevee and Pikachu - it was Green and Red, holding hands.

350. hierarchy: a ranking according to status or ability; a group having authority

That was the main reason Green accepted the offered position in Kanto's battling hierarchy. He would have outright declined the offer and gone into research without looking back, but had reconsidered after finding Red's picture. Maybe there was still hope in amending their relationship - losing to Red didn't have to mean the end of his battling career.


	36. Chapter 36

18% done

it's been a long journey

jk lets keep rocking on

um a little dirty thing down there i couldnt resist

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351. accrue: to come as a gain; to increase

The tauros did not share in his nostalgia, and instead grunted loudly and unattractively to each other - not exactly like the friendly meeps of the voracious flaafy. Green stared out the window a couple moments later before turning away to throw on some clothes and eat.

The gorgeous bundle of flowers was still on the kitchen table. Daisy was humming and pouring batter into the waffle maker.

"Good morning sleepyhead!"

"Mornin'. By the way, are these flowers from you or from me?"

"Uh..." Daisy pursed her lips and looked sideways. "From me? Let's say its your payment for the interest accrued from you dropping in here from time to time; like seriously, it's not a hotel?"

"I thought siblings are supposed to help each other in times of need..."

"Uh, maybe, but you're old enough now that I can charge you money for dropping in right? ...Eh whatever, just let it go this once and next time I really will pay you. Or I can take care of your flowers instead of your gardener, that's ok right?"

352. hidebound: narrow-minded

If this was Green four years ago, he might have chosen to argue up a storm about it (c'mon, you charge your little bro that expensive of a bouquet just cause he sleeps over?), but school had made him quite less hidebound. If it was one of his rich classmates, (Green studied abroad for a year in Sinnoh, and met too many young misses and sirs) they might have charged him an even more ridiculous amount. He ceded the point and settled for browsing through the news on his phone while Daisy finished up.

353. matrix: a surrounding substance within which something else originates or is contained

He was so engrossed in reading about the complex social matrix of mankeys that when Leaf pulled out another chair at the table to sit down, he jumped at the loud noise. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was in a complete mess (but she still looked nice all mussed up; if Yellow saw her right now, guaranteed 11/10 would bang). Daisy dumped a gigantic plate of at least ten waffles and heaved a new container of syrup onto the table.

"Let's drown the sadness in sweetness and get back on the right track, ok Leaf? And Green, don't be silly and just eat, weight isn't something guys should worry about." Daisy had no qualms against sweets; she ran a couple miles every evening and was still really fit. Green inhaled sharply, torn between fat gain and delicious food. He surrendered to the delicious aroma and decided to blame Daisy if he ever got atherosclerosis or high cholesterol.

354. Spartan: hardy, frugal and highly disciplined; not lavish or luxurious

Green had not been eating Spartan style - he had been indulging in the occasional burger or fried food was common, but nothing compared to the guilty pleasure he got from downing two waffles drenched in syrup. Leaf dug in after a while, unable to resist Daisy's cooking.

The silence was tolerable at first, but after finishing the pancakes (Green ate four, Leaf and Daisy each ate three) nobody seemed ready to start a conversation and the silence became awkward.

355. dregs: the worst part; the sediment in a liquid

Green looked at the smoothie Daisy handed him. Daisy was a pretty intense health freak too, and she had mastered the art of delicious smoothies, even though they sometimes turned pretty strange colors. This particular one she dubbed Green Apple, and it really was green - but spinach and kale green. Green rolled his eyes, hoping that Daisy wasn't trying to lighten the atmosphere with a "green" pun of all things. He tentatively sipped it, and found it wonderfully sweet and cold and creamy. He drained all of it down to the very dregs, and all that was left was a faint green coating at the bottom of the glass and flecks of blueberry skin. Good stuff.

356. perplex: to puzzle, confuse, or bewilder

Leaf was morosely sipping the smoothie, and Green wondered what kind of specialties Yellow had to charm Leaf, of all people. Leaf had really high standards for men, and maybe she'd given up on men and found a nice cute girl, and that was it. But then again, Leaf was a pretty insecure person deep down, so Yellow had to have _something_ to make Leaf feel so attached - and so hurt. Daisy cleared the plates and started washing. Green laid his head on the table and waited for Leaf to talk. Leaf stared at him as if perplexed that Green actually cared.

357. onus: an unpleasant task or duty; a burden or obligation

"No I don't like you," muttered Green, after Leaf started looking suspicious.

"...ok. Well thanks."

"No- I mean, I don't _like _you, but I do just, well, like you. As a friend. Platonic." Green resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. Why, oh why did this have to bear this onus?

358. station: a social position

"I know." Leaf sighed. "I just don't know if Yellow gets this whole like but not _like_ thing between the three of us."

"Really, what makes her so special? Why her?"

Leaf looked offended. "She's cute, and really sweet, and really nice. And gullible. You know, she literally was a forest girl with _nothing_ when she was eight, and I've been trying to fit her into a station of human life. She reads pokemon minds. Maybe human minds too. And she heals them."

Green's jaw dropped. "She's a blessed Viridian? Like Lance?"

359. sedition: the promotion of rebellion against the government

Leaf chuckled. Green internally fist pumped at getting Leaf to change her expression. "Yup. But you'd never know they'd come from the same place. Lance is a pompous - ok well you know what I mean, but Yellow is such a sweet darling. I tried blackmailing Lance, anonymously of course, to find out some background about Yellow." Green deadpanned. That was the ultimate crime, bordering on sedition. "I think they're related. Maybe an uncle, probably not her dad. But still, isn't that just weird?"

360. maverick: one who rebels; a nonconformist; an individualist

Leaf, the maverick, one of the few people who'd beaten Lance and almost everybody in Kanto, was suffering from indecision about her love life. Green pulled out his phone and started texting Yellow.

"Greeeen, don't ignore meee~" Leaf buried her head in her arms on top of the table.

"Mhm."

10:13 AM - Green: Hi Yellow

10:13 AM - Green: Leaf is crying coz she likes you

10:13 AM - Green: Can you call her or something (sent)

Green turned back to Leaf. "I thought you were just lecturing me about Red the other day, eh? What's the indecision for?"

Before Leaf could answer, her phone buzzed loudly. She grumpily pulled it out of her pocket, then saw the number and brightened up, before frowning.

"Green, it's Yellow, I'm still kind of mad but not really but I don't know should I pick up?"

Green gave her the thumbs up, and then mentally applauded Yellow's speed. That was a pretty dang fast response.


	37. Chapter 37

UUGH keeping track of dates is really annoying but im crossing my fingers and hoping i didnt mess up even though im just about 90% sure i did

i dont own a cat but i want one and i just figured out cats are lactose intolerant (mind blown)

btw expired milk is totes fine if its pasteurized so stop throwing it out and make like idk tibetan cuisine with it or something guys

* * *

361. lacerate: to rip, cut, or tear; to cause deep emotional pain

Leaf answered the call after the third ring. "Hello?"

Green only caught some high pitch and high speed chatter from the other side. But after about five seconds, Leaf gasped and looked as if she'd been lacerated right in the feels. And then she suddenly brightened.

"Oh my gosh Yellow, of course!" Leaf covered the microphone with her hand and yelled at Daisy. "Hey Daisy, is it ok if my girlfriend comes over?" Daisy gave her a soapy thumbs up. "Thanks so much for understanding. You know what, I'll text you the address and we can meet and talk about it all in person. It...it really means a ton to me." She choked back a sniffle. "Bye. And... I love you."

362. convoluted: intricate; complicated

Leaf hung up with a huge smile, and looked at Green. "You told her to call, right?" Green sweat dropped. How did Leaf figure it out so fast? Not like he could really lie though, so, he nodded. "Our relationship gets so convoluted sometimes, like I just like my space sometimes and she doesn't get it and sometimes it's hard to understand that guys and girls can be just friends." She sighed. "It must be nice with Red. You like him and he likes you, and that's it. You both get it, each other."

Green scratched his head. "I don't know if it's that simple sometimes. I mean, besides the obvious, the mountain, I'm not sure if the whole thing is that obstacle free."

363. tedious: boring; tiresome; monotonous (tedium: state of being tedious)

Leaf nodded thoughtfully, and the two stood up to part their ways. Green picked off a couple crumbs from his shirt, and said, "I'm going to the lab to check how all the pokemon are doing. I'll probably spend the whole day there, before I leave for Viridian. Text me if things with Yellow go wrong."

Green wandered the homely paths of Pallet, this one specifically which ran between houses and the fenced off ranch. Although traveling was exciting and interesting and all, somehow the tedium of rural society was equally, if not more pleasing. No, Green was definitely not a country bumpkin, but he certainly did enjoy towns and open sky and grassy smells.

364. epicure: one with refined tastes; especially in food and wine

The lab was drastically different in the light as opposed to how it looked in the dark - almost ominous night winds and phantoms now were pleasant warm breezes and fairies. He unlocked the door, and found Umbreon curled up in the kitchenette, mewling. Next to her was a half emptied plate of milk and a note.

Green picked up the note and deciphered the squished up, narrow handwriting - it was one of the assistants. He'd spotted Umbreon playing last night, thought it was wild, and let it in to have a plate of milk. Green had to applaud the guy for being smart enough to realize that you can't just lock out dark type pokemon (dark types could do short distance teleportation, used for feint attacks), but the milk seemed spoiled. Green was no epicure but he could tell the milk was probably expired just by picking up the plate and sniffing it. Umbreon gurgled and made weird noises as Green patted her, and he was about 200% certain she was regretting everything.

365. temper: to bring down in tone; to moderate; to soften

Green dug through Gramps' mighty collection of medicines and searched through the cabinets for lactase pills and stomach settlers to temper her stomach ache. The milk was probably not dangerous, because pasteurization killed pretty much anything remotely harmful, but he was worried about Umbreon's lactose intolerance.

366. counter: to offer in response

He found and grabbed a container of stomach settlers, but when he offered them to Umbreon, she countered by weakly standing and walking over to sniff the medicines herself, and picked out the lactase pills that Green had overlooked. He rubbed his forehead before sighing and taking them out and handing them to her.

367. gourmet: a connoisseur of food and drink

Umbreon was normally quite a decent (not excellent, because she liked Kalosian fries way too much) pokemon gourmet, and almost never got herself into food problems, so this assistant must have been something mighty distracting to make her commit such a common error. He tried to conjure up faces and names, but couldn't recall anybody that Eevee had ever liked. Or seemed to like.

368. dissemble: to deceive or conceal; to hide one's motive; to simulate

Feeding pokemon bad milk wasn't something people normally did to dissemble some evil plan. Green eventually put off his suspicions, patted Umbreon, and then walked around the lab, listening carefully and trying to locate the assistant. He walked through all the rooms, and heard nothing, so went outside to the ranch to browse around.

369. sodden: thoroughly wet, drenched

Green walked out the back door, and released all of the pokemon to have some fun. Somehow, he ended up getting caught up in quiet a raucous water fight (everybody against Blastoise, goal was to soak the turtle without getting soaked), and there was still no sign of the assistant. Green, now sodden and a little itchy, walked over, past the flower bushes to the fence to dry his shirt.

370. grapple: to struggle with something; to grip and hold

Somebody leaped from behind the bushes and threw a jacket around his eyes, blindfolding him. Green grappled and wrestled the person, trying to throw the him or her to the ground. After some yelling and arguing and shouting, Green realized that no pokemon had come to aid him, which probably meant that this person was probably innocent - the assistant. But why was he being attacked?

He eventually pinned the person, a boy, and removed the blindfold. A familiar face indeed.


	38. Chapter 38

371. hefty: heavy; big and strong, muscular; of considerable size or amount

It was Gold. The kid was even scrawnier in person than Green had imagined; in pictures, the loose clothing hid his bony frame and were taken at good angles to make him look taller. The massive typhlosion probably wasn't even that massive; it was just that Gold was pretty small.

But he packed a pretty hefty punch. And he didn't recognize Green?

372. flaccid: lacking firmness

Gold stared at him defiantly, but Green could almost see the cogs and wheels in his head turning towards recognition. His eyes changed from suspicion to full-on excitement.

"Green? Green Oak? What are you doing in Pallet wandering around half naked? Haha, man I thought you were hecka buff but your muscles are pretty much flaccid... you still battling and training?"

Green deadpanned. "Uh, no I have a job, I am _not_ flabby, and why are you here? This is kind of my family property so I'm legally allowed to be here, but you not so much? Unless Gramps hired you? I thought you were traveling and collecting badges still."

373. bellwether: something that serves as an indicator or leader of future trends

"Ahaha..." Gold's large smile faltered. "I kind of haven't been writing up good enough reports for Elm, cause he didn't complain, but Crystal got pissed and sent me to learn something from Professor Oak..."

"...Ok."

"Don't look at me suspiciously! I'm a good worker, and all the Pallet kids decided to help out cause apparently I'm pretty well known in Kanto and me working here is a bellwether for the coolness of ranching!" He wiggled out from Green's grasp, and then rubbed his stomach ruefully.

374. compunction: a feeling of uneasiness caused by a sense of guilt

Green felt compunctions of conscience for slugging Gold in the stomach, and stated as such. "Sorry for punching you."

"Naw it's fine, Silver's beaten me up pretty bad before, you're not that strong anyway," Gold said nonchalantly, before widening his eyes and covering his mouth in realization of how offensive that sounded.

"...What the hell man, I pinned you while wearing friggin heavy, wet clothing and against the element of surprise. You wanna go again?"

375. gale: a strong wind

Gold proved to be friendly, when not jumping and blindfolding people. The kid had an ego that was a couple sizes too big for him, but had the accomplishments in battling and breeding to back it up. After squabbling a little more, Green relented when the previous warm breeze began to strengthen into a gale. He wrapped his arms around his body and picked his shirt off the fence. He dropped arguing the argument (whether Silver was heavier than Gold or not) and began trudging back to the lab, feet squelching uncomfortably.

"Hey dude, don't leave me out here! I specifically waited outside of the building to ambush you so nothing'd break, and I'm hungry!" He jogged to catch up with Green, who shrugged and plodded on.

"Do whatever you want, just don't bother me and we're good."

376. assuage: to lessen pain or distress

Gold turned to grab his backpack, and as he fell into step with Green, Green saw Gold's 13...no, 14 badges. Gold followed his eyes and chuckled.

"Pretty sweet eh? I just have yours and Janine's gym left; I went to Fuchsia, and she apparently left a week before I arrived, and I've no clue when she's coming back so I guess I'm heading to Viridian next. Blaine was a pretty good challenge, but Explotaro can out-fire blast any of his pokemon." Gold smirked and tossed up a pokeball, did a cartwheel, and then caught it.

Green felt rising anxiety and tension foretelling a good battle - nice, but not when he needed some time off to relax and enjoy life with Red. And also time to research and prepare, because Gold was the real deal. His worries were assuaged when he remembered his essentially complete petition - Gold would have to beat Jasmine first, and hopefully she would be hard enough to track down so that Green could get more time to prep.

"Unfortunately I got new rules, you gotta beat Janine before you can challenge me." He chuckled when Gold looked at him.

"What the flying- dude, is that even allowed? Do you just ignore all the kids coming from Pallet and push 'em on to Pewter?"

"Actually it's a new thing, and yes that's probably what I'm going to be doing. Viridian Forest'll good enough preparation for most of them."

377. adjacent: adjoining; next to

Gold was distracted from trailing Green into the lab when he spotted Red's pokemon. Gold stopped and went googly eyed, and Green took the chance to speed up and slip away. He opened a closet full of mostly formal clothes and lab coats and indiscriminately grabbed a couple from the clothes hangers. Gold broke out of his stupor to shout at Green, but Green had disappeared into an adjacent bathroom.

378. gala: characterized by festivity or a festive occasion, especially a lavish social event

"GREEEN! WHERE IS RED? YOU GOT HIS POKEMON AND HE PROBABLY AIN'T DEAD, WHERE IS HE? DID HE POP UP IN SOME GALA TO AUCTION THEM OFF AND THEN JUMP INTO THE DISTORTION WORLD TO CHALLENGE GIRATINA?"

Green winced. Gold's voice echoed in the smooth walls of the building, and his ranting was subsequently amplified several times.

379. mediate: to resolve (arguments or disputes) by working with the conflicting parties

Green toweled off the last bit of moisture from his feet and slipped on dry pants and a shirt. Now how to phrase the situation? He went over his options; there wasn't much he could hide from Gold, with the kid's intuition. He unlocked the door after dressing, and Gold, pounding furiously, almost fell over when he swung the door open.

Green swished by Gold and to the closet to grab a couple clothes hangers to dry his wet clothes on. "Let's see... Red's pokemon wanted to go on a romp but Red didn't, so I'm mediating and taking these guys on a walk around Kanto."

380. empathy: ability to understand and identify with another's feelings and emotions

"That's not all. C'mon, my best friend was an emotionless introvert who had identity problems cause his dad was an asshole that abused animals and essentially ran the black market of Kanto, and whose organization totally messed up Johto. If I could empathize with a dude like that, reading your face is no problem." Gold stared at him, unblinking; it wasn't intimidating, but it certainly showed that Gold wasn't going to back down.


	39. Chapter 39

381. skeptical: tending to question or doubt

"Red doesn't want people to know where he is." Actually, quite a few challengers knew where he was. But they'd all been crushed so badly, somehow word never got out that Red was on top of Mt. Silver. Nobody wanted to admit such a defeat. They claimed that nobody was up there. Which was believable.

But Gold was skeptical. "Naw, If I were him, I'd be hella bored and waiting for a good challenge. Dude, I've already narrowed it down to that he's either travelling so fast nobody can even notice him, living the hermit life on top of Mt. Silver, or dead. And you've got his pokemon so he's probably not traveling and challenging anybody right now, which means he's not moving around and I still haven't heard anything. Which means he's on Mt. Silver. Cause you just pretty much said he's not dead."

382. veneer: an attractive, ultimately misleading outward show; thin layer

Green's confident veneer faded. This kid was unbelievably sharp. "...ok I give. He's really up Mt. Silver. How'd you figure that out so fast? It took me two whole years to go up the mountain."

Gold's grin stretched wide across his face. "He's pretty famous here, even so long after he rose to the top. Anybody'd make a ruckus if they saw the mythical master trainer. There's only two ways he could avoid discovery - by going into disguise, which seems kind of unlikely for a guy like him, or going into places that aren't scoured daily by satellites. That limits places in Kanto to Mt. Silver and Mt. Moon cause mountains are riddled with caves and stuff. But tons of people, ok maybe not tons, but a lot of people go through Mt. Moon, so Red probably wouldn't be there. So he'd be on Mt. Silver. If he did go into disguise, then he'd have to forge identities and crap and that's really not champion type stuff, and he'd probably have to be moving so fast between cities with false aliases and what not to remain undetected." Gold paused. "And then he could be dead. But he's strong, so he's not allowed to die."

383. illuminate: to light up

Green's opinion of Gold climbed a couple notches at the last comment. That someone else besides Red's mom and Leaf recognized Red's fortitude made him happy. The thought must have illuminated his face, because Gold started laughing.

"And here's another theory: you like Red. He trusts you with his pokemon, so he must like you too."

384. fluent: easy; graceful

Gold had Arceus-given talent - he'd just fluently stated Green's two important secrets.

"Dude Green, don't look that surprised, you and Red have like a fanbase that ships you. Of course, the fanbase is mostly twenty something year old women or teenagers studying up on Kanto's champions, but it exists. You don't even know how many people thought you two were in a relationship when they interviewed your grandpa and people found out about the whole Pallet geniuses thing."

385. cascade: a waterfall or series of small waterfalls; a succession of stages, processes, or units

The whole cascade of information was kind of surpassing Green's comprehension level. Total strangers had figured out his relationship.

Gold did not relent. "Of course, some people prefer shipping Red with Leaf since an interviewer once caught Leaf and she said that she had nothing for you, despite being caught coming out of your house." Green remembered that - but he'd thought Porygon2 had done a fair job cleaning that up from the Internet. "You three are hot gossip material; seven years is not enough time for determined shippers to forget."

386. curb: to restrain or control

Green curbed his embarrassment and dug out his phone and flipped to the photo album.

"You have your own fair share of fans too, and probably larger. Look what I found." He pulled up the picture he took at Saffron, with Gold and Silver on the billboard, and then tossed his phone to Gold.

387. civic: pertaining to a city or citizen

"Oho! This, oh my gosh, I thought the dude was kidding! Haha, this is great, can I send this to myself?" Gold didn't seem the slightest bit fazed. "What? I like Silver. Well, this pic is fake, I mean you can tell it's photoshopped cause the lighting is a bit off, but it is pretty good right?"

"You let somebody broadcast your relationship in the second most populous city of Kanto?"

Gold tapped his chin. "Well, not really. Silver's a tsundere and won't admit that he likes me. So we're not officially in a relationship. But I love him. Some pokemon fanclub president person caught me when I was training right outside Saffron on Route 6, and asked me to lend him Togetaro for a photoshoot. Well, Togetaro was like, hell no, but then the dude threatened to blackmail me with scandals, and I was like go ahead I don't give a flyin- ok, well yeah, he actually made a pretty cute pic." Gold's phone dinged, and he tossed Green back his phone.

After clicking a bit, he waved his phone screen at Green. "Lookit, it's my background now~"

388. binge: a period of uncontrolled self-indulgence

Green had been mind blown so many times in half an hour that he just wanted to crawl up next to Eevee and binge eat ice cream and become flabby and screw society and his love life. As he turned to sulk on the couch, Gold continued to follow, spouting out alternate gossip, BS, and secrets. Gold tossed secrets into the air so blatantly, it almost hurt to hear some said so plainly.

389. pittance: a small amount, especially of money

"So I found out that Lance really is a pedophile cause I browsed around Claire's gym and found some blackmail she had stored up of Lance hugging kids - not _his_ kids, duh, cause his dragonites are hella protective. But yeah, and he's what, thirty something now? D'ya think he'll ever get married? He paid me a pittance to shut up about it, but man is that weird or what?"

390. dilemma: a situation in which one must choose between two equally bad alternatives

Green was in a serious dilemma. He could either agree and continue Gold's excitement, or fake sleeping and try to deter the chatterbox. He tried the latter, but Gold walked over, glanced at him, and then sighed.

"I know you're awake man. Sorry about Umbreon, I forgot she was lactose intolerant. You know, most Eeveelutions are lactose tolerant now, Elm's done a survey and... ok I'll shut up, I need to go feed everybody on the ranch. Later!"


	40. Chapter 40

wow i look back at ch.1 and its like much awkward sauce? and still awkward?

like it started off drabbly and then i was like wtf no way can i do 2000 separate plots so then they all merged in a jumble

AAARGH i hate side characters omg ok not really but remember Ada and Ivan? ok well in my head i say Ava and Idan, and bulbapedia says Elan and Ida and so somewhere in the memory bank i just BSed their names totally argghasdfakslj u know what i think ill just avoid mentioning them for a while T-T

* * *

391. lair: the dwelling of a wild animal

The lab was supposed to be the lair of the genius Oaks, intimidating and awe inspiring to all strangers. But Green felt like an animal cornered in its own home; in the absence of the Oaks, Gold was running the place, running his mouth, and literally running around too. All the pokemon seemed fine, a little bewildered by the weirdo, but happy and healthy enough.

And as to strategy making, Green didn't have much to go off of. With a guy like Gold, there was just something wrong with using Red's pokemon to battle; so he'd have to plan for his own team. He didn't even know all of Gold's pokemon - but a little research could fix that up.

392. qualify: to modify, limit, or restrict, as by giving exceptions

True enough, Gold's team qualified for champion material. But Tyranitar could probably down Gold's Togekiss with stone edge and a thunderpunch, and an earthquake for Typhlosion, and probably Sudowoodo too. If that wasn't enough, then Gyarados could finish up the job... Well, planning could come later. After Red's birthday. He was lucky that Gold bought his bluff on the petition - technically it wasn't done yet, but Espeon and Aerodactyl would be able to take care of Koga. Close enough.

393. determinate: having exact limits; final; firm in purpose

Green looked at the round clock hanging above the window in the little kitchen. He really had no reason to be in Pallet any longer; well, he could wait for Leaf to talk things over with Yellow and then leave together for Viridian, but Leaf hadn't given him a determinate period of time as to how long they'd talk. Green just wanted to go home and hibernate for a day to rest up before going up to Indigo Plateau to offer a challenge to Koga, hand the petition to Lance, and then keep on going west to Mt. Silver. The more deep sleep he could fit in, the better. He didn't sleep too well when travelling; a touch of paranoia made him susceptible to flashing wide awake when there was pounding in the hotel hallways.

394. anecdote: a brief story, often humorous

Green glanced over at the window; Gold was seated on top of Venusaur, right by Blastoise, and the two seemed to be engaging in some kind of deep conversation. Well, more like Gold was blabbing about something, and Blastoise was nodding along. Green patted Umbreon before retrieving her pokeball from his soaked backpack and recalling her. She sleepily cooed before flashing in red light and disappearing.

When he walked out to recall Red's pokemon and Aerodactyl, he found Gold in the middle of recounting some blasphemous anecdote of him embarrassing the very pretty DJ Mary on live. "So she asked me the same dumb thing everybody asks, like how am I so cool, so I tried to spice it up and told her, 'When you start training you go slow and steady, but soon you gotta start pounding trainers hard and fast and eventually if you put enough sweat into it you'll get to the climax of the battling world and make it big,' and then the poor girl just blew up with sexual innuendo overload! You'd think a pretty girl like that would've had plenty experience in _that_, but this girl, believe me, she's probably a vir- oh hi Green."

395. paramount: supreme; ranking higher than others in power or importance

Growing up around Leaf had immunized Green to suggestive words, because anything Red said in his quiet, low voice would usually be paramount to loud dirty words and implications. But Blastoise, apparently inexperienced with obscene teenagers, covered his face with his claws. Venusaur, who had been listening passively up to then, raised a vine and flicked Gold on the forehead.

396. voluntary: willing; unforced

Gold threw up his hands. "Man, I swear I didn't force 'em to listen to me! It was totally voluntary! I mean I was bored, and they were there, so tada! Right guys?" Aerodactyl gave him a look. Gold winced. "Green, why're they so innocent? Like literally when Togetaro hatched, he was already up to gambling in the high life."

Green rubbed his forehead. "Um, some people have morals? And Red's not exactly the playboy type, and I don't think he's watched like normal television this entire half-decade."

397. refuge: a shelter or sanctuary

Green then motioned to recall Blastoise, who was happy to find any refuge and escape his embarrassment. On a second thought, he recalled Venusaur too, and Gold plopped to the ground with a fairly loud thump as the pokemon flashed into light and disappeared. Green snickered, and Gold rubbed his bum ruefully.

"Seriously man? Was that necessary?"

Green grinned smugly. "Absolutely."

398. balmy: soothing, mild, pleasant

Charizard was making rounds around Pallet, enjoying the balmy ocean breeze. He passed over the ranch, and squinted to see the brown haired idiot talking to the new black haired idiot. The brown haired, ok, Green, was recalling the team, so Charizard nose dived and rapidly spread his large wings at the last moment to stop a full on collision. The Green looked at him, unimpressed, but the black haired looked at him with raised eyebrows and clapped. Charizard smirked. He could get along with this kid. The dragon bopped foreheads with the boy, who looked incredibly pleased.

399. counter-intuitive (vocab card says it's one word, but Chrome's spell check begs to differ): contrary to intuition or common sense

Green recalled Charizard and gaped at Gold. "Holy crap dude, you just befriended Charizard in like two seconds? What the hell? It's been like seven years and he's let me fly on his back, like once?!"

"Aha, ya gotta think counter-intuitively. They're proud and normally solitary bubs, and so you'd think it'd be enough to give 'em space and roasted tauros, but no you gotta initiate the bond. They think you're being weak if you're avoiding conflict, so man up and have an argument some time. It's how bros bond."

400. replicate: to copy, reproduce, or repeat

Green couldn't even imagine replicating that head bopping with Charizard. That would require being in the Charizard's bubble and risking another smack in the ribs. His chest still hurt from the tremendous whack Charizard had given him the day before. He'd friggin been lifted airborne by the smack, right in the celiac (solar) plexus, and the huge bruise developing there was probably not very good mark of friendship.

Green waved to Pidgeotto, who had seen Charizard land and was flying in to be recalled. Green shook his head. "We're flying home now." Pidgeotto chattered happily and rubbed Green's spiky hair with his right remex. Green smiled and patted the long brown flight feather.

"Well, maybe when I'm eighty and ready to kick the bucket, I'll try pissing Charizard off. But now, I'd rather not be whacked into oblivion. See ya later man, have fun chasing Janine. I'll be back in the gym by next Tuesday latest anyway, so chill."


	41. Chapter 41

do you ever find fanart that makes you go like

dayum this is _le deal_ i mean like it's not even that like amaaazing but it's just somehow perfectly cute

20.5% done woot? crying

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401. fluctuate: to move back and forth or up and down, especially unpredictably

Gold waved as Pidgeotto ascended slowly, working with the fluctuating ocean wind. Green waved back, still unsure if shouting would scare Pidgeotto.

Route 1 was peaceful route with inexperienced pokemon and inexperienced trainers. Few were deterred by the strange, winding road (if simply built straight, it would cut to Viridian in half the distance), and eagerly ran into tall grass, startling pokemon and making first memories. Of course, the over confident were then squashed upon reaching Green, but most continued and pursued to Pewter. Green could recall his memories of the place, where he'd eagerly stepped out into the wild, caught his first wild pokemon, a rattata.

402. empirical: based on experience rather than a theory

Empirical evidence gathering was a whole different game, compared with statistical analysis he'd been trained to do since learning how to read. At ten, his world had been confined to lots of textbooks, pokemon research, and bad dramas on TV. He hadn't been able to tell the difference between loyalty and bondage.

403. disconcert: to make confused or uneasy

When Raticate passed away, at first he'd only been disconcerted. But as he thought about what could have led to such a death, he realized how something about his whole mindset was wrong, since pokemon centers rarely encountered problems they could not fix. He'd thought of his pokemon as nothing more than conveniently indestructible tools, and something huge changed when he walked through the flower stall outside the Pokemon Tower, fingering white begonias and carnations. _Deep thoughts. Remembering_.

404. levity: lack of seriousness, especially when improper

And then he'd run into Red in the Tower. He thought a battle would be a fair enough disguise for his emotions, and after losing he'd felt little pain in the loss. The display of normalcy and almost levity had pulled him out of his thoughts and back into the battling world. Losing his first wild caught pokemon had taught him something, and he'd have to move on. Lives depended on his decisions, and he couldn't be wasting five teammates' time mourning.

405. belittle: to put down; to speak of contemptuously

Though Green beat down and wiped the floor with novice trainers, he'd tried not to verbally belittle them, face to face. At the start of one's journey, one could get lucky with simply employing strategies. But Green took it upon himself to lecture the occasional egocentric fool, to remind him and many others that pokemon battles are fought with trust and understanding, not commands and stat boosters.

406. efface: to rub out, as from a surface; to erase

Though Green had tried to efface the darker memories from his daily life, it was hard not to remember them, soaring over the nostalgic path of Route 1. He could already see Viridian's buildings in the distance, green roofs poking out from green trees. It almost felt pre-planned: Green would run Viridian, the viridian, or blue-_green_ city in the middle of an evergreen forest. People even started referring to him by his middle name, Gary, to avoid the puns.

407. gambol: to leap about playfully; to frolic

Pidgeotto touched down at the northern side of the city, at the entrance to Viridian Forest. The bird again patted Green's head fondly, and then turned to face the forest and cawed loudly. A familiar looking female fluttered down, and the two gamboled a little awkwardly but very affectionately. The couple bowed and disappeared into the trees.

408. suave: effortlessly smooth and courteous in social situations

It was about time for a late lunch, and Green casually stepped in a cafe, trying his best not to be too conspicuous. Of course, he played it suave and tried to charm the waitress into _shutting up_, but she found it necessary to talk for ten minutes before leaving to bring Green food. At least she didn't decide to squeal like a fire alarm and wake up the whole city. But even so, it was two in the afternoon, and the cafe didn't have many people besides old ladies that'd forgotten to eat.

409. hallowed: made or set apart as holy

Lunch was a quiet affair after the waitress stopped ogling him, and after leaving, he walked to Route 22, the road to Indigo Plateau. The placed was hallowed as a kind of sacred road for the pokemon masters, and at that moment, several young trainers were stepping tentatively forward, trying to spy the Pokemon League Reception Gate; the symbol of the goal, so far away and yet so near. Few people ever passed through that gate; most people came to Kanto by Magnet Train or by the S.S. Aqua. Only the champions took Route 22.

410. pejorative: downgrading, demeaning

An old man - the drunkard turned coffee addict - stumbled by, and admonished the kids for trying to enter the holy route.

"Y'all better come back here this instant! There are very strong pokemon on this route, and they're not afraid to snap up some kids for a dinner! None of you are even close to being ready to challenge that route!" He shook his fist, and the kids scattered. Though Green thought the old man had used some pretty pejorative terms, it was essentially true; tough pokemon would easily knock out unprepared trainers. They probably wouldn't eat them, but they'd leave them out unconscious, exposed to nature and thus disease, cold, and whatnot.

Besides grumpy old men and flirtatious girls, Viridian was a nice place to call home. It was not so much a bustling city as a suburban area with houses and apartments and a little downtown area nestled between the taller apartments. Speaking of living quarter, well, he wasn't too eager to check up on the state of his own, as Leaf wasn't exactly a very organized or neat person. Hopefully there wouldn't be detritus collecting in his sink just yet. Now, how would the gym be doing in his absence?


	42. Chapter 42

OH AND DID I MENTIOn

i love reviews and thanks so much to everyone who has made it this far, but im not going to haggle for reviews coz im the annoying type reader that like gushes while reading on my phone and then moves on without reviewing

i mean go ahead and leave your love if you want to i mean that makes me do cartwheels

* * *

411. undaunted: not faltering or hesitating because of fear or discouragement

When Green stepped into the gym, Arabella was seated at the far end of the gym, holding a megaphone, and hailed him in a monotone, apparently undaunted by Green's return.

"Welcome to Viridian Gym, please proceed carefully on the tiles and do not ru- Green? OH MY ARCEUS guys wake up!It's Green he's back!" Or maybe Arabella had been overworked these last few days. The others were _napping_ on their tiles, presumably in exhaustion. The stirred awake and cheered upon seeing Green. What in the world had happened to make him _that_ missed? He was charming, but they couldn't even survive a couple weeks without him?

412. recapitulate: to summarize; to paraphrase

Arabella was the first to move, and skidded on the moving tiles with ease; everybody raced across the booby trapped tiles to be the first to hug Green. After successfully making a body pile, they sat down in a circle. Salma volunteered to recapitulate.

"So the first day after you left, it was normal and pretty peaceful, but then I guess word got out that we had a substitute gym leader. I swear, every single one of the kids that lost to you came flying back, which meant a horde of excited kids. Arabella's given out a couple badges, since people end up getting to him just cause our pokemon are out of stamina and can't battle non-stop for that long! Now that you're back, everybody'll be scared off! Uh, no offense intended."

413. effect: to bring about

Green chuckled. "I'll beat the challengers personally then. How about all of you take a break and I'll take care of the gym for the last three hours? After this weekend, I'll hopefully be able to effect the new rule and then I promise this'll never happen again, ok?"

They looked at him a little suspiciously. Green sighed. "What, you don't trust me?"

Bonita spoke up. "No, it's just that kind of reminded us of the time right after Lorelei joined; we had so much trouble running the gym because somehow it became a hot spot for trainers and the just wore us down..."

Green raised an eyebrow. "Well, sorry? Well, just hold on until the weekend, by Monday I promise we'll be trouble free."

414. ample: enough, or more than enough; plentiful

Green dismissed them, and they filed quietly out of the gym. He then walked over to his office, but left his door open so he could hear if anybody came in. On his desk, neatly arranged, was a stack of paper bills, neatly bound together with a rubber band. Underneath was a huge list of trainers that had challenged Arabella and lost or won; the diligent man had literally written down every single one's full name, gender, age, and amount paid after losing. It was quite the ample sum after only a week and a half of his absence. Well, although his trainers had been overworked, they'd done a great job attracting trainers and making profits.

415. laconic: brief in speech; using few words

Some of the braver trainers came running in on hearing of Green's return. He borrowed Arabella's megaphone and only gave a laconic warning before sitting back to watch the kids puzzle over and get tossed around. No, Green was not a sadist, but he did enjoy watching people be confused and zip around the floor in a dizzy mess. Hey, it really was funny!

416. chasten: to correct by punishment or criticism; to restrain

Eventually, one kid figured out the path, and the others immediately followed him, creating a sudden line of trainers waiting to battle. Green took out Umbreon. That was fair - it wasn't as if he was sweeping trainers with Red's pokemon. Green methodically chopped up a couple of inflated egos, and chastened them appropriately afterwards: "You should have healed at that point - umbreon have extremely high defense stats, so it would have been better to try to prolong the battle instead of finishing it one hit! Try again after you beat some other gyms!" or "What were you thinking, sending out an abra first thing? Abras are rare and can become powerful, but you gotta study a little more before you challenge a dark type with a psychic type! Try another gym!" And so on and so on.

417. converse: to engage in spoken exchange of ideas

The battlers slowed and began to converse with each other. Green smirked. Trainers were normally quite hostile to each other, but here they were, at the end of their wits, actually working together and formulate a plan to beat Umbreon. There were only three more in line; Umbreon nibbled a Sitrus berry as she sat waiting in the center of the battling area.

418. impede: to obstruct

The conversation seemed to escalate, and they decided on pushing out the smallest kid first. He sent out a nidoran - probably aiming to poison Umbreon and weaken her. However, Umbreon literally sweat poison when she was agitated - Gramps had written that for her pokedex entry. Though Umbreon was not fast, she was still faster than the nidoran, and poison was no impedance for her; a psychic attack was enough to knock it out in one hit.

419. ostensible: outwardly appearing as such

The ostensible purpose for sending out the smallest kid first was probably for poisoning Umbreon - but then, as that failed, it became clear that the other two had simply been afraid and sent the youngster first. The second trainer, a guy, forfeited and ran. The last trainer, a girl, nervously stepped forward and released a Scyther.

420. nostalgia: a general longing for the past or to return home

Green applauded her choice in pokemon. Scyther was a really good match against Umbreon, but this one appeared to be still too young, too inexperienced. In fact, it became evident that its only moves were Pursuit, Wing Attack, Fury Cutter, and Slash. Good diversity - but the level difference was too big; Umbreon's high defense and stamina let her last through one fury cutter, and she simply overpowered the Scyther with shadow balls. Green gave her a thumbs up after her scyther fainted.

"It was a good pokemon choice and your pokemon knew diverse moves; you just need more practice. Make a loop around Kanto and come back when you're prepared!"

"A-alright." The girl grinned ruefully and left.

Green patted Umbreon and sprayed her scratches with a potion, nostalgically recalling the times Eevee had tried to battle before evolving. Eevee had been strong, but not enough - just hard work couldn't always surpass low stats and few type advantages. Eevee had tried to learn all sorts of moves, but was limited by her type. But her effort had paid off, and she used her new moves gracefully as an Umbreon. Green hugged Umbreon after patching her up, and then the two reveled in the silence of the gym.


	43. Chapter 43

nutella is like cocoa hazelnut spread

it's basically like chocolate and it is the best thing

* * *

421. loquacious: very talkative

Time seemed to speed back up and flutter by uneventfully when without goals, without traveling - after falling back into routine, there was few things grand enough to catch Green's attention. Afternoon soon became evening and Green walked into his apartment and was surprised to see everything clean and tidy, with a note on the table from... Yellow, of course. He dumped rice and water in the rice cooker and then settled for eating a plain meal of white rice and pickled vegetables. The refrigerator was empty and the pantry's chocolate stash had been greatly depleted; he'd have to go grocery shopping soon. He retired to his bed feeling a little aimless, but was content.

The day after, he woke up (really) late, 10:30 AM; he grabbed a piece of chocolate before running out the door to get to the gym. His loquacious younger trainers Ada and Ivan had set up a picnic celebration outside - they had formulated a whole speech which summarized to them deciding on not opening the gym until Green was there.

422. kindred: related or similar in origin or nature

Although perplexed by them waiting outside (Arabella still had a key, in fact all of them had keys), Green plopped down to join (he was a little hungry). They brought a whole box full of just sandwiches and box juices and though a little daunting in its sheer immensity, overall the picnic was charming in its own simplicity. After sitting down, Green noticed one or two challengers standing awkwardly outside the door, watching Green and his trainers eat. Sensing a kindred hunger for nutella sandwiches, Green motioned for them to come over and join the circle.

423. tenable: able to be maintained in argument; rationally defensible; able to be held against assault

They seemed- no, legitimately were pretty awkward, and even when scooting in to join the circle they stayed on the edge, making the group look more like an oval. Well, it was a tenable awkwardness - the two challengers were probably from Viridian or Pallet (trainers coming from Cinnabar and beyond generally got around to Viridian in the afternoon), and had been waiting nervously for a tough battle.

424. pedestrian: done on foot; ordinary; commonplace

To start up a conversation, Green ventured on asking the kids where they came from, their goals, and _why they thought they could challenge the Viridian gym first_. Both their stories were pedestrian, nothing amazingly unique - but then again, Red and Green and Leaf hadn't come from anything too unique either. It turned out that the two challengers traveled together, and wanted to eventually get to the Indigo League and become famous - cute, but not too likely. They were both from Pewter, and had been wary of heading towards Mt. Moon first.

425. pecuniary: of or involving money

After devouring three sandwiches (the little things were tiny!), Green stood up and stretched. The others got the message and started cleaning up and preparing to start work for the day. Green offered to take the sandwiches and eat them all day (he even offered money to soothe the twins' pecuniary concerns, because that really was a lot of bread and nutella), and within a few minutes everybody had reached their stations. The trainers were set up on their respective tiles, and Green had buried himself into his office with his sandwiches.

426. precipice: a cliff; the edge of a dangerous situation

The two kids didn't make it very far - they were stopped and beaten on their first battle. Green spun around in his spinny chair, delighting in his lack of stuff to do (Arabella had been amazingly thorough) and tucked his legs and arms in to spin faster and faster. He was having quite a lot of fun spinning and spinning, when he heard a loud noise outside, which startled him into leaning over and losing his rotational axis, thus causing the chair to tip over precariously. Green rolled off his chair, the world still spinning, and soothed his pounding heart; he felt as if he'd almost been thrown off a precipice. When the world stopped rotating, he carefully stood and looked out the window and saw nothing. He assumed it was just another loud trainer, and quietly sat back down in his chair. That was enough childishness for the day; time to get back to being old and boring.

427. garnish: to decorate; adorn

Green ended up munching on nutella sandwiches all day, garnishing his table and his desktop with crumbs. He was looking through interesting research projects he could work on to boost his income a little - less trainers meant less time at the gym and more time outside. He also needed to figure out a schedule for his gym trainers; he'd like to give them a chance at life beyond just battling, and most of them had reached out for the chance during Lorelei's absence. They'd all left their jobs quite suddenly, and he was thinking about scheduling his trainers so two or three could work in the morning and then two or three in the afternoon, especially since he wouldn't get too many qualifying trainers after passing the petition.

428. insight: the power to sense or understand something

During the lunch break, he walked out of his office to see his trainers snoozing again, this time in boredom. Battles were not going to be regular business; it probably would be much more secure for each of them to have a source of income outside the gym. He relayed his thoughts and insights on their futures and they seemed appreciative and supported the idea - full time trainers lived precarious lifestyles depending on how long they could battle and win. Salma and Arabella volunteered to take mornings, and Bonita and the twins decided on working in the afternoon.

429. offhand: without preparation or forethought

Salma made an offhand suggestion to keep tabs on trainers with nearly all other seven badges, and Green gave her a thumbs up. Battles were going to be rare, how rare they weren't sure, but if few enough trainers qualified, they could really just abandon the gym until trainers with seven badges appeared. They began rifling through newspapers and phones to check up on reports of successful trainers. Most trainers had only one or two, some had three, and after upping the number of Kanto badges in the search, it turned out that only three trainers had six badges - and all three were missing the Fuchsia badge and the Viridian badge. Their names were Lyra, Gold, and Silver, all trainers Green had already met. Green smacked his forehead. Coincidence was powerful.

430. nebulous: unclear; vague

Green had some nebulous memories about his journey, but he quite clearly recalled that he did not seem outstanding with his eight badges. And yet somehow, there were only three trainers in the whole region with six badges.

He could essentially shut down the gym until Janine popped up - and his trainers agreed. Strong battlers made headlines, and the news reporters could give them a heads-up whenever Janine reappeared and challengers with seven badges would appear.

The rest of the day seemed a whole lot brighter and easier, and a little sad thinking about how quickly his job as "child dream destroyer" was coming to an end. He'd have to find a more stable job ... haha, which wouldn't be too tough since his grades and internships throughout school had attracted the attentions of quite a few employers from Kanto and Johto, even Sinnoh. He'd have to dig up those invitation emails now...


	44. Chapter 44

LOL thanks LudicrouslyUnappealing I most definitely can assure you that I was thinking Jasminejasminejasmine not Janineninenine lol I'll try to reupload a few chapters asap heck I wrote Jasmine last chapter too before remembering janineninenine

tysm

* * *

431. negligible: of little value or importance

The pay and more importantly, prestige of most the groups that had emailed him seemed to be quite negligible - not even close to Oak standards. Green might have been a little desperate, but no he did not think he had fallen to the point where he'd be tech manager for Silph Co. The two that attracted his attention were both outside of Kanto - the Global Terminal in Sinnoh and Devon Corp. in Hoenn.

432. liaison: a communication between different groups; the person in charge of a communication

Devon had a lot of potential, in Green's opinion; it had recently released plans for a Pokemon Dream World in which any pokemon could be digitized and sent online to meet with others. The concept was based off prolonged studies of Porygon and though it seemed extremely promising, it hadn't gained popularity in countries outside of Unova just yet.

The Global Terminal in Sinnoh was something that he just wanted to see and be at; the pay wasn't particularly good and the job description not too interesting, but the concept of being able to take pokemon trade onto a global scale and help with transfers was a startling idea. Green hadn't had the chance to explore or read through lengthy report of species in other regions, and working at the Global Trade Station would give him a chance to see the world, and get paid.

Green emailed both liaisons to see if their offers were still open - both were pretty old, and even Porygon-Z had taken a couple seconds to find them.

433. inveigle: to obtain by flattery

He got a reply from the GTS almost immediately, saying that the position had already been filled. The email appeared to be the kind of automated rejection letter, and Green was tempted to write a flattering email to inveigle a position. However, he decided against it, thinking about how he might not even be positioned by the main transfer capsule and be simply working behind the scenes somewhere and being a grunt. Ugh, nevermind.

434. capitulate: to surrender under specific conditions; to give up all resistance

Devon's reply came almost an hour later, still surprisingly quick for such a large corporation. It was from the former champion, Steven Stone.

"Dear Mr. Oak,

Mr. Stone is currently touring and exploring Mt. Coronet, so I am currently leading and running Devon. Although he might capitulate to your offer and accept your application willingly, I will not. Throughout my travels, I have encountered many young geniuses, and I will not be swayed simply by your background or your grandfather's achievements.

Please submit a standard application. If your achievements are truly yours and not your grandfather's, I may reconsider.

Sincerely,

Steven Stone"

435. fete: lavish entertainment; a festival

By the end of the email, Green was snickering. Steven was a funny guy. Gramps had taken Green and Daisy to Hoenn to "vacation" a couple or so years back; the professor had gone to meet and talk with Birch, but the kids had gone to the beach and gotten tanner than they'd ever been in their lives. They'd gone to tour the Devon building for some fete celebrating Devon's ten year anniversary.

Steven had been helping the kids there get into nice clothes for the party, but Green couldn't stand an itchy suit rubbing his sunburned shoulders, and he'd gone to the celebration as casual as he'd eventually gone to his induction ceremony. And it turned out that the only formally clothed people at the party were Mr. Stone and Steven, and Green was quite satisfied that he'd managed to avoid having to wear such restricting clothes when unnecessary.

436. jaundice: prejudice; bias; a yellowish discoloration of the skin

Steven had some kind of jaundice against "improperly" clothed kids, as if a t-shirt and shorts were anything to be ashamed of. Steven was in his early twenties then, and he'd probably still never _ever_ ran around without a blazer or a vest. Heck, even in his pictures and biographies, when he was in the middle of caves prospecting for rare stones, he was still in his nice formal clothing, kneeling in the dirt without a single smudge on his face.

437. bacchanalian: characterized by riotous, drunken partying

Green was surprised that engineers and scientists had that much fun inside them; he'd grown up with a fairly uninteresting grandfather, and was surprised that Gramps could even dance. The party turned into something surprisingly bacchanalian, and Steven had smoothly rounded up the underage kids (there were four, the current Hoenn champion Sapphire and her boyfriend Ruby, and then Green and Daisy) and then taken them outside and to his apartment a couple blocks down.

438. nettle: to bother; to irritate

Green had nettled Steven a little more (for fun, he was such a straight laced dude) with accusations of pedophilia, which earned him a smack from Daisy. Steven ignored him, _stone_-faced (haha), and settled them in front of the TV with four Wii controllers before disappearing into his bedroom/office.

439. cite: to refer to or quote

Steven had quite a few of the newest games, and had any other young teenage boy been there, it might have been a wonderful, novelty experience. But Green had grown up and learned that video games were like drugs (after wasting a whole summer and getting an earful from Daisy), and consequently developed a resistance to them. Daisy had no clue how to play any of them, and Ruby was too busy complaining about the animations. Sapphire was _way_ too into the game, and was slaughtering everybody else.

Eventually they gave up on playing since it wasn't exactly working out due to the difference in enthusiasm. They ended up sitting in a circle (ok, square) on the floor having a mini contest for cutest, coolest, prettiest, strongest, and smartest pokemon. Sapphire and Daisy were decent, Green... sucked, but Ruby was a total master at the thing, citing exact lines from rule books to determine who won.

440. chastise: to punish by beating; to scold or condemn harshly

They ended up being chastise by Steven, who had come out after hearing some loud crashes. Luckily, his home was made to withstand careless, gigantic steel pokemon, so most of his furniture wasn't easily destroyed. Umbreon had gone just a tad overboard with trying to conjure a (massive) shadow ball and nearly exploding it. Ghost moves were hard to control especially for those outside its type, so Ruby had reluctantly dished out Green's first few points after admitting his Umbreon (not him) was indeed prodigious.


	45. Chapter 45

holy crap

do you ever find out your classmate is actually like arceus level human

and then I'm like wtf how are you so cool

dear arceus i couldnt focus when writing this chapter so it's pretty scatterbrained oops

* * *

441. maxim: a short saying expressing a general principle

Steven had looked unsure whether to kick the kids out (where they might destroy even more stuff) or to simply work in the living room to make things awkward and stop them from getting too reckless. Sapphire was totally unaffected by the quiet and just fell asleep on Ruby, who proceeded to pull up contest videos on his phone and analyze them. Daisy eventually followed Sapphire's example, but Green was not about to let a twenty something year old man be awake in such proximity of his at then still unmarried sister.

So Green had stayed up and annoyed Steven until he got to help out organizing papers. Green had gotten bored and (maybe not so wisely) began to offer snarky tips on clever responses for some of the business letters. He could practically see Steven getting pissed under his cool visage - one got good at reading emotions after training with Red - but in the end the most venomous response he got out was simply the maxim, "Beware the fury of a patient man."

Green had laughed a little uncomfortably after that and then agreed to work in silence.

442. deploy: to station or assemble troops or forces in position

Their relationship had never really eased out after that, and though Green was all for forgetting awkward pasts, Steven's thoughts and beliefs were set in _stone_. And apparently, according to this email at least, Steven would be deploying all his connections to prove that Green had used his professor's name in most of his successes. So Green'd have to find something pretty amazing to convince Steven.

443. perceptive: capable of quickly understanding

Brock, although a busy worker and not so talented gym leader (ok, he was alright but not exactly amazing), was a perceptive rock collector. Green had a fair amount of experience with precious stones and fossils from his own research, and he knew who the experts in paleontology were - so when Brock had a stone under maximum security, that was something pretty precious right there.

Green had asked about the lump of rock, but Brock had shrugged and simply stated that someone precious had given it to him to protect.

444. reprieve: to postpone or cancel punishment

He hadn't really noticed anything spectacular about the rock, but apparently Espeon had. Espeon had been rolling around and playfully tussling with Umbreon, but Espeon eventually noticed something odd when Green opened Steven's email and his user icon (a picture of his very fake smile) popped up; Espeon jumped onto his head, swatted Green's face with his tail and then pressed the red stone on his forehead to Green's forehead.

Green had never become accustomed to the psychic pokemon that buzzed in occasionally to communicate with him. Espeon was speaking (telepathically at least) in what seemed to be excitement. "This human has connection with Brock man's psychic stone, he want, he want-"

"You mean Brock's Enigma Stone?"

"Yes yes yes, rock has lots and lots of power inside, but not for psychics like me, I touch and nothing; is for special special psychics- Eon dragons, eon psychics, this man searching-"

Green thought about scolding Espeon for breaking security without letting him now, but decided to reprieve the clever pokemon. He'd hit gold.

445. nativity: birth, especially with reference to place, time, et cetera

Sapphire and Ruby had befriended Latias in their journeys, and they'd been searching for Latios' soul stone. Steven had publicly announced handsome rewards for those who could find the Soul Dew; the legendary stone supposedly containing Latios' soul. It was described to contain tremendous residual psychic energy - there were few, if any other objects able to contain such massive power.

Green had conducted preliminary studies on Red's Eevee and told him that his was almost certain to become an espeon, with its nativity and long history of psychics. Like pureblood Umbreon, Espeon had a strong psychic background, and Green believed him when he said he sensed something special about the rock.

446. grandiose: impressive; imposing; showy

Green could sense another grandiose adventure awaiting him - it was time to pay another visit to Pewter to study the Enigma Stone and maybe awaken a dormant legendary, for goodness sake. Even though Red was neighbors with Moltres and had become close buddies with all sorts of rare pokemon, Green hadn't had the same absurd luck; this would be huge.

447. bewitch: to put a spell on; to charm

The idea of such an important stone so close by was bewitching. For the rest of the day, Green couldn't focus on anything other than the possibility that the Enigma Stone was indeed the Soul Dew.

And thus he completely forgot about calling Daisy to make sure the flowers hadn't wilted yet. Green bought the special Celadon brand flower food stuff for special occasions, but who knew if Daisy realized that the flowers wouldn't last longer than a week without proper care. When he left his office for the day and glanced at the fake anthuriums he freaked out.

448. profligate: immorally wasteful

He called Daisy immediately, and she promptly scolded him for thinking her so stupid as to forget where the flower food was. She'd been using it carefully for the past year (without Green's knowledge, whoops) and though she outwardly called Green a profligate flower boy (the stuff was expensive!), she secretly loved the stuff: gardenias were ephemeral flowers, lasting no more than three days with normal flower food, but with Erika's mixture (it was like plant steroids) they lasted almost a week and a half.

449. knack: a specific talent for doing

Green had a knack for losing track of his thoughts, and by the time he'd gotten home his brain was in a mess thinking about Red, paints, flowers, and reviving legendary pokemon so he could get a job.

450. myriad: an indefinitely large number

One of his myriad of problems was solved when he came home to his apartment to find his delivery of painting supplies. He dragged the surprisingly large box in door and happily stabbed and ripped apart the tape wrapping the cardboard box. He lugged out the supplies and admired the beautiful professionalism of everything: the paint tubes arranged by rainbow color, the plastic wrapped canvas, the still pristine brushes, and packaged palettes. He dug out wrapping paper and pondered how he'd wrap the whole shebang.

There was a nostalgia in celebrating something so simple in such a traditional method. Birthdays were precious - Green would drag Leaf up the mountain on Sunday if she tried to stay down because of depression. Well, Red's birthday was actually on Monday, but celebrating a day early never did any harm.


	46. Chapter 46

holy crap my subconscious is amazing it's red's birthday

i srsly did not have this planned

believe me pls

* * *

451. consternation: a sudden feeling of anxiety, shock, or confusion

Days and nights passed in consternation at Green's apartment. Leaf eventually dropped by with Yellow to sleep over in the living room and work on amassing a tremendous scrapbook, which left that whole section of the house a mess of cut paper, glue, pieces of tape, and general chaos. She'd destroyed Green's bouquet (the one she and Silver had sent him while he was traveling) and taken the petals to decorate the pages. Yellow had brought Daisy's bouquet, which was still in (surprisingly) great condition. Together, Yellow and Leaf discussed the anomalies of Red and the joys of traveling, keeping the house in a constant state of buzzing talk.

Green, on the other hand, had given up on wrapping his presents and decided to put everything in a backpack and just gift the whole backpack. He then began experimenting with recipes to make a cake, which resulted in the kitchen being a scene of mayhem.

452. clarify: to make clear or easier to understand

Late Saturday evening, everything was prepared and Green had managed to clarify the planned schedule. Green would get a head start Sunday morning to challenge Koga and drop off the petition. He'd then wait for Leaf and Yellow after his battle, and the three would march up Mt. Silver lugging backpacks of gifts and food.

453. envelop: to enclose or surround

That night, Umbreon crawled out of her pokeball to envelop Green in a hug. She'd been a touch neglected these last few hectic days, and was eager for some soothing pats and ear scratching. Green, whose nerves were on fire, suddenly felt a wave of calm wash over him. Tomorrow would be a long day, a happy day, and he needed to sleep to be prepared to make the most out of it. Umbreon and Red's pokemon were strong, strong enough to beat Koga. They trusted him, and that was good enough to win.

454. dispense: to administer; to distribute; to do without

Green woke up to his alarm at four AM, feeling dead. Umbreon had fallen asleep next to him, and nibbled his ticklish side when he tried to roll over to turn off the alarm. Green had a mini-spasm, and after recovering and becoming fully awake, he dispensed a couple fond belly rubs upon Umbreon. She giggled too, and soon they were wide awake in a tickling battle (Green was winning).

455. discrepancy: lack of agreement; difference

The packed bags were lined up in the hallway, and Green frowned a little at the discrepancy between the size of his backpack and Leaf's. He shrugged and started up the toaster and made himself his favorite vanilla cocoa. He scavenged remnants from his chocolate storage and then started out on the fairly short road west to Indigo.

456. tutelage: the capacity or activity of a guardian or tutor; the state of being under a guardian or tutor

Under the tutelage of Red, Green had figured out just about everything on pissing off wild pokemon. But then, he also knew just how to avoid pissing them off too, so he was able to get all the way to the official Elite Four building without so much a peep from an angered fearow. The gate guards were still half asleep and dully ok'ed Green's trainer card and went back to half-snoozing.

457. concerted: planned or accomplished together

Koga was an early riser, and was the one to greet Green as he stepped into the familiar hallways. Koga was silently padding through the gigantic building, not making a sound as he patrolled the empty mansion and waited for the sun to rise. It was probably a ninja thing, since normal people didn't go out of their way to wake up and train in the wee hours of dawn.

"Hey Koga. You're up pretty early." Green speed walked to catch up and walk alongside Koga.

Koga snorted. "No, Bruno has been awake even longer. I am getting older, it is harder to deny these old bones sleep."

It was Green's turn to snort. Koga was what, fifty? And still waking up at five to train? "I don't think I've woken up this early more than three times in my life. Except for all-nighters, but those don't count."

"Ah, that is a matter of discipline. In ninja training days, rising early was a concerted action, for the master would send late risers on cleaning duty for a week."

458. scion: an heir; a descendant

"Is that what you make Janine do?"

"Ah, Janine is a good girl, a worthy scion. But her heart is not cold enough to force her children to join the trade, as I have done. I fear our line will end once she marries." Koga clicked his tongue. "But Green, your intentions today are not to make small talk. You came here with a purpose."

"Yeah. Well, Janine's probably off in Johto in cahoots with Falkner, and I needed her approval for something. But I don't know when she's coming back so I thought your authority would be good enough too. Battle me, Koga." Green stopped walking stared right at the poison master, who stared back and then laughed.

459. harangue: a long pompous speech; a speech

"Fwahahaha! Your confidence is something altogether, boy. I will not harangue you with words - you know my strategies well enough, I need not warn you. Prepare yourself!"

460. loath: unwilling, reluctant

Green loathed poison pokemon. They were strong and strategically useful, but something about the way Eevee'd shudder when poisoned would make him feel uncomfortable. Last night, he'd made sure to hand each pokemon a Pecha berry for the battle, and crossed his fingers and hoped that no one would be injured.

He sent out Charizard first, and the dragon roared at the chattering Ariados. Green's main worry was that Koga would use all sorts of bothersome status lowering or evasive moves. So he had to go all out from the very start.

"Flamethrower!"


	47. Chapter 47

do you like reading about battles cos I don't

here's one, see if you hate me yet

* * *

461. rebut: to refute, especially by offering opposing arguments or evidence

Koga's Ariados dodged the brunt of the attack, but still ended up taking a hefty amount of damage simply from the edges of the flame grazing his body. Koga rebutted with a poison jab (Green crossed his fingers and hoped - chances of poisoning were 30%), but Charizard persevered and simply overwhelmed the spider by decreasing his flame intensity in order to drastically increase his flamethrower size. He only needed a small hit to knock the Ariados out. The tactic worked, and Koga's first pokemon went down.

However, the tremendous flame ended up lighting more than just Ariados' legs.

462. buffet: to knock about; to push or force roughly

Invisible spider webs caught fire and drifted about, falling in a spectacular spiral of ashes. The sight was breath-taking, literally; Green suddenly found himself half blind and choking for air. He shielded his eyes, and searched for Charizard, who had taken to the lofty rafters to escape the ashy whirlwind. Green could hardly keep his eyes open as he tried to dodge and avoid being buffeted by the rain of glowing ashes. He spotted the flash of light as Koga released his next pokemon, presumably Venomoth, which proceeded to use its wings to create a blinding gust of wind.

463. encore: again, once more; a second performance; and audience's call for a second performance

Green blindly shouted at Charizard for an encore, as most of what could be burned had already fallen to the floor in ashes. Venomoth tried to focus energy to make a psychic attack, but was forced to flee and flutter in circles to dodge flamethrowers. Charizard chased it and overtook it, eventually making it pass out from extreme heat.

464. mandate: a command; an order

The swirls of ashes began to settle down, and Koga released his next pokemon with a different mandate; he ordered Muk to shrink. The chunk of sludge rapidly became smaller and smaller, almost invisible in the mess of gray ashes carpeting the floor. Charizard proceeded to methodically incinerate the floor, but to no avail, as Koga's smile seemed to say that Green had no hope of finding and eliminating Muk.

465. frolic: to behave playfully and without inhibition

Green recalled an angry Charizard and sent out Espeon, who padded warily around heaps of ash. He commanded Espeon to sweep the area and use extrasensory detectors to locate Muk; the feline looked at him, sending a telepathic message of _who do you think you are, human_ and tossing his nose and releasing a faintly visible ball about the size of an apple, whose transparent edges wavered like a bubble, before blasting and drastically increasing in size to encompass the whole room. Muk could have been frolicking in the mud all the way outside the building and Espeon would have known; the psychic located the opponent and focused a powerful wave of psychic energy towards the corner of the building, behind Green. _  
_

466. overt: open; not hidden

In all honesty, Green wouldn't have even known if Muk had fainted or not, but Koga's recalling of the pokemon was an overt sign showing the pokemon had collapsed. He next sent out Forretress, and Espeon tried to blast the pokemon with psychic waves. However, the strange pokemon simply tightened its shell and deflected the waves with its protective outer layer. Espeon growled in annoyance, and stared at Green. _Switch me out for the mad one._

467. feign: to pretend; to fake

Green didn't even bother feigning misunderstanding and just snickered a little at Espeon's nicknaming; with another impatient glance, Green recalled him and released Charizard once again. The fire dragon was no less incensed, and upon spying the bug and steel pokemon at the other side of the field, he focused his fire into an extremely hot and narrow stream, close to dragon's breath. He destroyed the pokemon thoroughly, blackening its shell; Koga looked a little worried as he recalled Forretress. Green tutted at Charizard - it was bad sportsmanship to exercise more power than necessary to knock out opponents - and sized up Koga's final, strongest pokemon: Crobat.

468. verve: energy in movement; exuberance

The bat moved with extraordinary verve and agility, outpacing and zooming in circles around the much bigger Charizard. Compared with Venomoth, Crobat's wings were longer, stronger, and overall a whole lot better for speedy type moves.

Before Charizard's temper could get much worse again, Green traded him in for Blastoise. Of course, in the speed game, Blastoise was an even worse match, but Green was fed up with the game of tag; he squatted, hugged himself, and then called for Blastoise to make a blizzard.

469. coup: a clever, sudden act or maneuver; a triumph

Green had once studied biological processes of ice types - their moves weren't usually very powerful, and generally not very large in scale. Most ice types contained various natural refrigerants; However, due to his massive size, Blastoise was able to use his massive ammonia tank to rapidly suck large quantities of heat from stored water, and then fire frozen pellets along with frigid air. Blastoise's blizzards were something of a true natural phenomenon, and Red had taken quite a bit of effort to teach him the move.

The blizzard proved to be the major coup in the battle. In the cold, Crobat's mobility rapidly decreased, and once hit with a fairly large ice pellet, the bat fell to the ground, where Blastoise knocked him out with an icy jet of water.

470. expedite: to speed up

Koga recalled Crobat, and the two battlers walked to the center to shake hands.

"It was truly a great battle; I have a long way to go. Where should I sign?"

Green handed him the petition. "Here. Thanks."

"I do believe you need to hand this to Lance next, no? He will not be awake for another hour, and if you leave it on his desk it may become buried and never seen again. You should wait. And help clean." Koga gestured at the mass of ice pellets and ashes and sludge in the battle hall.

"Uh, really?" Green was ok with cleaning in the apartment, but a gigantic room like this? Koga walked over to the wall, and reached into the hidden closet to pull out two huge mops.

"Work will expedite the waiting process. It will also strengthen your mind and body; cleanliness and its pursuit are healthy. Sweep towards the center; Muk will engulf it and carry it to the incinerator in the back of the building." Koga handed him a mop, and began to take running leaps to sweep up the mess. Koga's cleaning expertise was pretty amazing - Green deadpanned before slowly joining in on the opposite side of the room. Even the Elite had to do mundane things. Well, judging by the way Koga was taking flying leaps across the floor and scooping up debris in graceful sweeps, it might not be that boring. But Karen, cleaning? Heck, Lance cleaning?


	48. Chapter 48

471. valor: marked courage or bravery

Green finished about a fifth of the room in the time it took Koga to freaking prance across the hall and sweep up the rest. By the time he was done, his arms were sore and his back was aching from hunching over to put more weight into the mop. Pushing piles of snow and ash was a lot harder than Koga made it look. Blastoise had retired to a clean corner of the room to watch and grunt at Green whenever he missed a spot. The ice pellets were melting, which made it easier to scoop up the ash, but also a lot heavier to maneuver.

The heap in the center of the hall was quite amazing; when the debris was spread out, it didn't seem like that much, but collectively the heap was taller than Green, even as it melted. While Green sat beside the heap, rubbing his back, Koga methodically treated each of his pokemon with potions and berries. Green was afraid of Charizard angrily blowing the stuff in the heap everywhere, so he just let out Espeon to join Blastoise and rewarded them each for their valor with a couple Oran berries.

472. polyglot: one who speaks many languages

Green was no polyglot, but he was able to understand Espeon's pawing at his shins without the telepathic communication. He let out Umbreon, who happily joined Espeon and swiped some of his berries. Koga recalled each of his pokemon except for Muk, who true to his word, engulfed the entire heap (holy shi- Muk could probably eat Green whole). Koga picked up the two mops and shoved them back in the secret closet.

473. incredulous: disbelieving; skeptical

Green was a little incredulous at the things he'd just learned from staying to watch the "behind the scenes" action. Elites, or at least Koga, cleaned up after themselves after each battle. There were secret closets in the walls of the building. Muk could shrink into almost nothing yet also eat man-sized heaps of junk in one gulp.

474. artifact: an object produced by human work, especially one of historical or archaeological interest

Koga led Green to the waiting room outside Lance's office, and then essentially ditched him there. The sun was making its way up the sky, and Green was snoozing, catching up on some much needed rest, when Lance barged in (cape and all, making quite a hullabaloo) and stared at him.

"Koga told me that you'd be waiting. So you've finished discussing matters with the others? They approve?"

Green blearily opened his eyes and avoided intense eye contact by staring at the strange artifacts in the waiting room. Strange bones and carving stood on the shelves; a carved piece, suspiciously like a stantler's skull with antlers still attached, was displayed on the coffee table. Lance's words barely reached him in his half-awake state, but when they did, he casually pulled out the slightly wrinkled, surprisingly still intact petition. It'd been in one of the inner compartments of his wallet and had avoided most of the soaking Green had gone through, whether it be from that one Gyarados splashing him or Blastoise, well, blasting him.

475. seminal: original and inspiring further similar efforts

Lance eyed the paper and then folded it and tucked it in his pocket (probably never to see the light of day again). Green began nodding off, and Lance sighed.

"If you don't leave, I'll have to talk you out of here."

"Try me."

"Professor Elm recently published a truly seminal work on the breeding habits of dragons - some undertake remarkably human-like rituals involving sacrificial bloodshed and impaling of competitor's reproductive organs. Similar to ancient societies, severed organs are then burned and offered as gifts..."

476. ambiguous: having more than one possible interpretation

Green decided that Lance's level of sanity was quite ambiguous, and quite willingly left the room after Lance unashamedly elaborated on his recent readings. He speed walked down the hallways, tossed open the grand double-doors (his arms protested), and stepped into the fresh, and pretty cold air. He pulled out his phone to thumb through emails and check for one last time before entering the Wi-Fi-less domain of Mt. Silver.

477. discern: to perceive and understand so as to make distinctions

The cold air did wonders in waking Green up, and from a couple hundred feet away he was able to discern Leaf and Yellow, waiting for him right outside the Pokemon League Reception Gate. They waved at him to hurry up, and he jogged over. His backpack bounced and whacked his sore back every time he jogged another step, and he ended up running hunched over, his sore arms gripping his backpack to stop it from further abusing his spine. Leaf chortled at his ungraceful approach, but Yellow offered a hand.

478. provocative: tending to stimulate by making one interested or angry

Yellow was carrying just a small backpack and the carefully wrapped bouquet but Green could already hear Daisy yelling at him for making a girl carry things. Green declined Yellow's help.

Leaf laughed a little more. "Yellow can bench press me, I think she'll be fine carrying some of your stuff."

Though Leaf probably didn't mean to be provocative, Green still took that at as a challenge. Leaf was slim; no more than a hundred twenty pounds. But last time Green snuck into a gym to try the weights, he'd been able to do about one fifty pounds before giving up, being embarrassed (the hulk next to him was bench pressing four hundred something) and walking out. He could use a little work out.

479. influx: a mass arrival or incoming

Mt. Silver seemed a whole lot shorter when walking with other people. Espeon and Umbreon were leading the way, running back and forth and in circles around the three humans. The golbats were on decent terms with Red's pokemon and didn't bother the small party; Green thought he saw a couple familiar ones - the ones that had lifted him and blindfolded him before tossing him down to sled down a mountain.

Would Red be prepared for the influx of people? Well, four people wasn't much of a crowd, but with Red, it might be the most people he'd ever seen at once in the past years.

480. terrestrial: relating to the Earth

After reaching the snow covered peaks, where everything familiar and terrestrial became swathed in white, Green felt his heartstrings tug. He hadn't been separated for this long from his pokemon since he lost all those years back - he'd let Daisy watch over his pokemon as he sulked - and he wondered if Red felt the same way about his own pokemon. Espeon was ecstatic, and impatiently skipping faster and faster.

Near the peak, Espeon sped up and all but sprinted up the snowy slope. Green looked up, panting slightly, and spotted a figure standing next to Gyarados, who was lounging in the snow. He broke out into a run, forgetting his aching back.

"Red!"


	49. Chapter 49

481. vehement: forceful; furious

Red looked at him, and waved back.

Arcanine came bounding out, recognizing Green's scent and flying down to tackle him. As if sensing Red as well, Blastoise and Venusaur and Charizard and Aerodactyl began shaking vehemently in their pokeballs, demanding to see. Green released them all and put in the last bit of energy he had to hug Arcanine, and jog to the cave's mouth. Gyarados opened an eye, and than called his obnoxious, reverberating call. Though it was a bone shaking growl, judging by his smile, Gyarados was happy. Exeggutor, Tyranitar, Machamp, and Pidgeot came waddling and fluttering and storming over to engage in a body crushing hug.

482. narcissistic: excessively interested in one's own appearance, comfort, importance, et cetera

Although Green did his best to play the confident, narcissistic ass, he really had been insecure and alone at times in his journey. But any bad memories or feelings bubbled away and were forgotten in the fuzzy hug from Arcanine (that bowled him over into the snow), the tickling from Exeggutor, the fist bump with Machamp, the hair-ruffling from Pidgeot, and the careful, icy cold pat from Gyarados. Umbreon decided to join in for good fun, and tackled him when he sat up.

Green laughed and laughed until he couldn't possibly laugh any more, and then glanced over at Red, who had also faced a similar tackling from his own team. Leaf and Yellow walked up to the cave, and dumped their bags before releasing their traveling pokemon (Leaf's demonically powerful Jigglypuff and Yellow's cute Pikachu) and joining the madness by throwing snowballs.

483. tangible: able to be touched or treated as real

Green called for a ceasefire to throw his bag into the cave as well, and then joined the fray in all earnest. Leaf got him a couple times on the rear, and he turned and struggled to aim in the chaotic crossfire; it'd started as a free for all, and everybody simply aimed at things that moved and then ran to escape the subsequent wrath. The girls eventually teamed up, and convinced Red's Pikachu, Espeon, and Umbreon to join them and Jigglypuff and Yellow's Pikachu. The rest of the bigger pokemon stayed fighting for themselves, and Green skirted the center of the conflict to find his target. He eventually found and tackled Red.

Red drew his breath sharply as the two landed on the soft snow. Green hugged him tightly, laughing and marveling at just how tangible Red was; despite pale skin and skinny arms, Red had not yet become some kind of mountain wraith or fairy.

484. exemplary: worthy to serve as a model

Red stiffened due to the contact, and Green reluctantly let go as Red wriggled a little to be released. Red offered him a blank stare at the sudden intimacy, and Green's cheeks, already red from exhaustion, grew a little warmer. Red let the smallest of smiles spread across his face, and packed a snowball. Green immediately got into defensive position, but relaxed when Red turned and threw the snowball in an exemplary arc, to land gracefully on Leaf's head.

485. malign: to talk badly of something or someone; harmful

Leaf turned and glared at Red (who stared back passively), and then ordered Umbreon to tail whip a couple snowballs in their direction. Green ducked as one sailed overhead, narrowly missing his head. He resisted the urge to malign the (furry, adorable) traitor and weakly tossed a couple snowballs back their direction.

486. preeminent: superior in status or fame to all others, especially as a generally recognized quality

Snowball attacks grew progressively more creative - after ten minutes of warfare, Machamp had begun to toss gigantic snowballs (more like snowmen bodies) to bury careless pokemon. Pidgeot figure out how to scoop up snow with his tail and carefully maneuver it to dump on unsuspecting pokemons' heads. But of all the techniques used, Venusaur's was preeminent; the normally docile creature was rapidly batting snowballs in all directions with high accuracy (presumably from razor leaf throwing practice).

487. prominent: noticeable; widely known

Green, back and arms aching and stomach sore from laughter, was the first to surrender, but was still pelted with snowballs as he hurried into the cave to shake off snow and try to ease warmth into his frozen fingers. Although he had a strong resistance to sickness (maybe the fat did have its uses), he wasn't invincible and his body was near frozen. He stumbled over and plopped down near the dying embers in the fire area, next to which stood a prominent stack of neatly piled firewood. He tossed in a log and flamed the sparks to life, throwing off his damp jacket and gloves to absorb warmth from the fire.

488. conflate: to bring together; to merge into a composite whole

The rest of the crowd soon stampeded in to conflate and crowd around the fire. More logs were tossed in, flamethrowers were shot, and soon, a massive bonfire was burning. Pika (Red's pikachu) and Chuchu (Yellow's) were huddled together, already close friends. Espeon and Umbreon were curled around each other and dangerously close to the fire. Arcanine and Charizard sat by their trainers, providing them warmth. The rest were at varying distance around the bonfire, but overall it was a happy, chaotic mess of pokemon and humans chattering and purring and absorbing warmth. Eventually, pants of exhilaration and exhaustion quieted and turned into giggles and chuckles, hugs and nuzzles, and all sorts of friendliness.

489. prone: tending or likely to do something; lying face down

Green was lying prone on Arcanine's back, and beckoned to Red, who was listening to Leaf talk about Yellow. Leaf concluded her talk when she saw Green call for Red, and slyly pushed Red over to sit on Arcanine's back as well. The canine grunted but didn't move at Red's extra weight. They sat close together, as Arcanine's back was fairly narrow.

490. modest: limited in amount, extent, et cetera

Red had prepared a modest lunch of mountain greens and brown rice (dear Arceus, lugging rice bags up the mountain was probably the hardest work Green did) - well, plentiful in Red standards, but Green pulled out the un-decorated coffee cake he'd baked, Leaf pulled out candies and chocolates from all over the world, and Yellow presented a fairly large container of still warm stir-fried meat and vegetables. Green found himself heaping the food onto Red's plate (the boy really needed to gain some weight) who happily devoured it all. And with each extra piece of broccoli was another, "Happy Birthday."


	50. Chapter 50

500! 25% done! Just a little longer than usual to celebrate?

* * *

491. milestone: an important event

Lunch was a spectacular affair - probably quite the milestone in Red's social life (or lack thereof) while up the mountain. After washing dishes (leaving scraps of food was asking for a wild pokemon attack), it was gift unwrapping time. Green lugged his backpack over to the fire, but Leaf protested, wanting her gift to be opened first. She pulled out her scrapbook proudly, but as a couple photos fluttered out, she freaked out and shooed the boys away while she and Yellow rushed to fix it up. So Green and Red were sitting together in a heap of pokemon on the other side of the fire so they couldn't see.

"...How'd you meet Yellow?" Green had belatedly noticed how well and un-awkward the two were.

Red paused, before quietly murmuring, "Pikachus met in Viridian."

492. attain: to reach, get, or accomplish

Green made an almighty mental fist pump. He'd attained the goal of making Red speak a full sentence. However, he hid it all and smoothly continued the conversation. "I see. She's nice. And she likes Leaf: who likes her back, so it works out well."

Red nodded. The Leaf and Yellow were crouching at the opposite corner of the cave, huddling just a little closer than their work needed them to be. As if inspired, Red inched closer to Green just so their shoulders were touching.

493. tenuous: weak; thin

Green's face heated up a little at the touch. He'd thought Red was against being so close, after what happened earlier in the snow. He leaned a little closer, and after no negative response, he reached over and picked up Red's hand, and studied the fine lines of scars. Though thin and bony, Red's hands were not tenuous; there was lean muscle under the pale skin. Green traced a bluish vein gently, and Red shuddered. Green looked up and saw Red's eyes were downcast, and his cheeks were tinted with pink. Green smirked (he just wanted to sweep Red up in a hug and snuggle with him forever) and intertwined his warm fingers with Red's cold ones, and held on tightly.

494. recidivist: one who returns to criminal habits

At that moment, it was silent except for the small noises from the crackling fire and in the midst of snoozing pokemon, but Green's heart was beating so fast and loud he thought he might explode. He could feel sweat beginning to gather in his hand, but even though it was gross it'd be ok because Red was holding on too. Green didn't care if Red thought he was a recidivist sexual offender that made moves whenever he felt like it - he loved Red, and Red liked him, and he just need to show how much he wanted to be with the other. They held onto each other desperately, savoring the connection.

495. colt: a young male horse

The magic was interrupted by Leaf announcing her completion and storming over. Yellow tagged along, carrying Daisy's bouquet.

"Tada! This year's scrapbook!" Red let go of Green and reached out to take the scrapbook and opened it gingerly. It was a blue hardcover notebook with the date written neatly on the otherwise plain cover. Inside, there was a collection of polaroid film and home printed photographs. As Red flipped through, Leaf spouted out explanations to elaborate on the concise captions beneath each picture.

"So the first quarter is from my stay in Unova! Last time I went, I only got to visit the smaller eastern towns, cause I was there to help with excavations of the Abyssal Ruins, right? So this time I got to visit the major center cities - oh and I got a picture with Elesa before she left on a world tour with Skyla; look at her colt! It's a zebstrika, a native electric type, but it's actually closely related to ponyta and rapidash. Isn't it cute?" Each page had a centerpiece picture with more images of scenery and landmarks around it. With each image came another story, and Green got the idea that Red traveled vicariously through Leaf and thus never felt the need to go explore. Whether it was a good thing or not, Green wasn't sure, but Red seemed to enjoy it greatly.

496. elated: in high spirits; joyful

At last, they reached the last page: Leaf had taken a ton of selfies in Green's apartment, and had just one caption at the bottom reading: "enough room for one black-haired red-eyed tenant ;)" and Red's mouth twitched upwards. Green interpreted that as Red's (probably accidental) display of elation. His heart fluttered and Yellow chose to present the bouquet next.

497. languid: sluggish; lacking energy

Compared to his rapid flipping through Leaf's scrapbook, Red's gentle fingering of the flowers seemed languid.

"The bouquet's from Daisy - but the flowers are from Green, so hehe, aren't the Oaks such romantics? Uh, well Daisy arranged the white lilies and the big pink rose, I put in a couple apple blossoms for a little more pink. Oh, and I added some of my special garden mulch and Daisy added some Celadon brand flower food, so it should last for another two weeks before wilting. Um, I wrote up a manual on drying flowers in case you haven't tried preserving them before - it's attached to the ribbon." Yellow smiled at Red's slow perusal of each and every blossom. It was a beautiful arrangement of pastel pink and diaphanous white, and it almost seemed to glow in the overwhelming firelight. Red turned away to put it next to the tiny fake tree (the stupid thing with cards tied on the branches) and keep it further from the roaring fire.

498. adept: very skilled, especially natural talent improved by practice

He walked back to sit with everybody around the fire, holding a branch from the bouquet with a couple apple blossoms. Red nodded thankfully at Yellow, and then turned to Green. He adeptly grabbed a shoulder, then placed the small branch in Green's breast pocket. _Promise_. Green flushed, Leaf wolf-whistled, and Yellow clapped. Red's lips curved upwards visibly and his warm eyes twinkled.

499. lofty: very high; noble

Green put away his smile and embarrassment long enough to pull out the art supplies from the backpack. He laid the tools out and handed everybody a small canvas; he'd gotten a pack of 8"x12" and a couple more packs of 4"x6" canvases. Red's eyes widened.

"Uh, so, I know you like drawing, so I thought you'd like oil painting? I was thinking that we could all work on something quick this afternoon?" Red nodded eagerly. Leaf and Yellow looked at each other, whispered something, giggled, and picked up a couple of the brushes.

Leaf scooped up the blues. "Hey Green, we should each take like different color sets so each painting has a different main color, so they all look different. Also cause you know, this should be a individualish thing so we can't share paints unless we're right next to each other. Uh, I'll take blues and purples, you can take greens and the light blue, Yellow will take oranges and yellows, and Red will take reds and browns. Ok? And I guess we can share whites and blacks, since you got a gigantic tube of them anyway."

500. vie: to compete

Leaf took her supplies and wandered outside the cave to paint. Yellow followed her for a while, but returned to the cave later. Green tried to think of something nice, but ended up painting his own Gyarados and altering it a little so it turned into a blurry painting of the Gyarados that had splashed him (Green held grudges against unruly pokemon). Mixing colors was hard; and the paints didn't dry quickly, as acrylics usually did, so his tiny canvas turned into a messy sprawl of blues and greens vaguely resembling something serpentine with white whiskers. Although he wasn't necessarily vying for "most beautiful" piece, he had to admit that his splotches weren't exactly stunning.

Green tried to peek over Red's shoulder, but Red flipped it upside down and threatened to smash it if he peeked. Green backed off, surprised by the reaction - Red's face was pink and he was biting his lip in embarrassment. Green chuckled, raised his hands in surrender, and then went back to staring at his messy Gyarados.


	51. Chapter 51

501. insipid: uninteresting; having no flavor

Green's canvas was too smothered with paint for any more work to be done, so he set it aside to dry, and prepared himself a mug of instant coffee. He was starting to doze off again, which would be quite dangerous as the sun was already sinking and if he fell asleep, he just might not wake up. He first filled the mug with clean snow and then propped it up extremely close to the fire, watching the white fluff melt into liquid. He dumped in a packet of coffee powder and carefully put on gloves before taking the cup out of the fire and swirling it around to mix in some clumps that had formed. He could feel the warmth of the drink even through the gloves, and it was a welcomed treat: his hands had been starting to freeze after painting for a while.

He absentmindedly sipped some of the coffee, burnt his tongue, choked at the insipid flavor, and then set it aside, grimacing all the while. He pulled out a cup and melted some more snow and started cleaning his paintbrushes. The clear water turned into a foggy... viridian color.

502. convene: to bring together

His loud brush shaking (he was trying to whip the water off, since he had no cloth to wipe the brushes) seemed to be a call for everybody to convene. Yellow finished soon after, and Green passed her the cup of water, which turned into a green, murky color as she stirred in oranges and yellow pigments. Leaf walked in, her teeth chattering and her lips blue, but split in a proud smile. She waited for Yellow to finish, and then swirled the water with blues and purples. And lastly, Red padded over to take the cup and wash out the reds and browns from his brushes.

The pokemon gently shook each other awake, and they all blearily sat up or opened an eye to watch the mini art show.

503. fortuitous: occurring by chance

This time, no one seemed eager to share, and it would have been a standstill if Umbreon's timing had not been so fortuitous - she yawned, jumped off Arcanine's back, walked over to Green, and knocked his painting over for everybody to see.

Leaf was the first to break the silence. "Is that... a dratini?" Green face palmed. Leaf laughed. "Hahaha, man I'm kidding, that's actually a really good Gyarados. I didn't know you could paint." She held up hers next: the landscape of Kanto as could be seen from the mountain peak, with Articuno and Suicune and Regice and Dialga and Thundurus and Yveltal painted in fancifully in the scenery. Well, the legendaries looked more like blobs with wings and feathers, but Leaf was proud of herself so the three others clapped respectfully.

504. feasible: capable of being done

Yellow had painted Pika and Chuchu snoozing peacefully, with an egg in between the two. Green raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, your and Red's pikachus didn't just meet by chance... they had a kid?"

Yellow nodded. "Yup! Do you want to see their egg? I think it's close to hatching!" She took out a pokeball, in which lay a mottled egg. She handed it to Green, who could feel vibrations on the inside. His mind was blown quite thoroughly - he had never even thought that Red's antisocial demonic rodent would bother with girl and reproduction. Green hadn't even thought it feasible for Pika to woo a girl. Green, in his suave glory, had lost to Pika.

505. guile: slyness in dealing with others

Green marveled at Pika's guile and ability to charm girls, and passed the egg to Red, who looked at it, and then Pika. Then at Green.

Red turned his canvas around, and the three others gasped. Red had painted the four of them together, holding hands. Despite the limits of essentially dichromatic painting, Red had made a starting likeness of each person with amazing detail (it was such a tiny canvas too!). Green gingerly picked it up and stared at his likeness - he was smiling, not smirking. Red and Leaf were next to him, both smiling in a way that reminded him of lost childhood days of innocent carefree laughs. Red got embarrassed as Green continued to stare at it, so he seized the painting and passed it to Leaf, who stared at it in wonder.

506. kin: one's relatives

Green's jaw was on the floor. He knew that Red's mom could paint (she hung her artwork around the house - Green had asked once where they came from, and she had shyly mentioned that she was the artist), and he also knew that Red was a decent artist, but that level of skill was amazing. Green briefly pondered the possibility of Red being kin to that one famous Unovan artist... Burgh? He dashed the thought soon after; Burgh was a tall and stick thin with a crazy wavy hairdo - genetics would not allow a mutation that extreme in Red's bloodline.

507. apology: a defense in speech or writing of one's beliefs

Side by side, the paintings were so drastically different, whether in color, skill, or style. Red stashed them away to dry and went to wash his hands with some help from Blastoise.

Leaf was still in shock, and she muttered as such to Green. "Oh my Arceus, you know how much that could sell for? Red's got the real deal I tell you, I almost want to apologize for even thinking I was on his level... you get me? Like, Yellow's was cute and still really good, yours was a little like, what the hell is going on, but man his is like... wow." Green nodded sagely. It wasn't often that he agreed so strongly with Leaf, but Red's artistic abilities were astounding, to say the least.

Dinner was a casual arrangement of more stir fry from Yellow, and rice. The sun was dropping fast.

508. specious: seeming to be truthful on the surface, but actually false

The firelight bouncing in the cave gave off the specious impression that the sun was still up and casting more light than it actually was - upon stepping out and looking west, it became clear that the sun was about to set, and it was time to leave. Green rummaged through his pockets and handed over Red's pokeballs, but Red would not return his. As Green was searching the cavern (Red was just sitting by the fire, staring), Leaf and Yellow departed. Leaf was apparently leaving Kanto the next morning, and Yellow would be returning to her apartment in Celadon to work. Green meanwhile, began panicking.

"Red... I need to go, if I wait any longer it's going to be too dark and risky to go back."

509. vogue: prevailing fashion

Green walked over and plopped down by Red in front of the fire. Red was warming Green's jacket, holding it up to the flames. Green rubbed his forehead.

"Red. Red, my jacket is pretty vogue and all but that doesn't mean it'll keep me warm if I stay any later. And I kind of need my pokemon to get down here alive. Please?"

Red shook his head.

510. extrapolate: to predict by extending known information

Green tried to extrapolate a conclusion from Red's actions. _Think like Red. I live on mountains and it's my birthday. I have a pikachu. Uh..._ Green scratched his head, and stared into the fire. "Red, I have to..."

Red reached over to hold his wrist. "Stay."

Green was temporarily lost for words. He turned his eyes to meet with calm red ones. He tried to mouth out a protest, but his vocal cords had something different in mind. In the end, all that came out was a quiet, "Ok."


	52. Chapter 52

keepin' it rated T

* * *

511. turbid: cloudy, muddy; in a state of turmoil

Green's thought processes were a touch turbid. A part of him was thinking that it was about time he had a sleepover, considering he'd been visiting the mountain for years now. Another part was fidgeting and conjuring up quite inappropriate images for an innocent stay over. A final side was worrying about how early he'd have to wake up to get down the mountain in time for work (Green'd pulled off waking up at 4 AM one day, but that kind of thing was not something he could repeat easily).

512. turgid: excessively ornate or complex in style; swollen, as if from fluid

After the sun set, the temperature fell drastically and the pokemon huddled together around Red's nest of coats and blankets. Up on the mountain, staying up much later than sunset was unpractical and unheard of - Green was mildly baffled by how easily the pokemon began falling asleep. Green regularly stayed up until midnight, so it was quite odd to be preparing for bed at eight.

Green used the bath first, and was no less shy about it than he was the last time. Partly because Red didn't bother giving him privacy, and calmly proceeded to brush his teeth by the basin which was only a couple feet away from the tub. Besides Red's almost negligible sounds of teeth brushing, it was startlingly silent, devoid of insect chirps and noctowl hoots. It was hard to believe that just a couple hundred feet below, turgid waterfalls were raging. Red's cave was surprisingly cozy, and it was possible to temporarily forget that one was thousands of feet above sea level.

513. redolent: aromatic; fragrant; suggestive

Red's shampoo was redolent of pears and honey and vanilla and sweet memories. It was the same brand that his mom had used over a decade before, scrubbing their scalps while gently scolding them for jumping in muddy puddles after rainy days. That was when they were still young enough to bathe together and make bubbly towers out of each other's hair. Green's heart skipped a beat as painful nostalgia washed over him, and memories of wide smiles of a certain red eyed boy resurfaced. Times before the stupid mistakes, the rivalry, the battles.

514. embrace: to hug; to include as part of something larger; to support eagerly

When Red poked his head around the wall to check if Green was done yet, Green hurried washed out his hair. The smell of pears as the water ran through his hair was so strikingly reminiscent, and Green found it too hard to choke back a sob. He felt so guilty sometimes - if he just hadn't been such an asshole, Red would've grown up into a normal, smiling, expressive kid. What else, besides his stupid bullying, could have caused Red to change so much? Why had he been so stupid? Why?

He squatted and buried his face in his hands, refusing to look at Red as the other boy padded over. Red patted his back comfortingly, although with cold hands, and Green shivered. A pause - and then Red wrapped his arms around Green's torso and embraced him tightly. Red's shirt was probably getting wet, and Green's towel was slipping off his hips. But it was all ok, because it was Red, and Red was ok with Green despite all he had done.

515. entrenched: dug in

Red squeezed a little harder, and then throbbing pain from the healing bruise (from Charizard) pulled Green out of the angst he'd become entrenched in. He gently pried off Red's arms, and then turned around to return the hug quickly before bunching up his towel and leaving to get dressed. Red stared at him as he turned to leave. Green fidgeted. Did Red want something?

Red pointed to the shampoo, his own hair, and then Green. Green nodded, before throwing on a pair of boxers and a shirt. Red stripped quickly and stepped into the tub and stared at Green.

516. enmesh: to entangle or trap, as in a net or web

Green carefully walked over, thanking Arceus that the water was bubbly and shielded his eyes and his mind from going down the drain. He kneeled on his towel at the side of the tub, and then scooped up lukewarm water to soak Red's hair.

Green rubbed in shampoo in methodical circles, and found only a couple strands enmeshed in knots. He gently combed through the black hair, which earned a pleased hum from Red. Green finished with rinsing the bubbles out thoroughly and then standing up to leave.

517. comprehensive: complete; covering broadly and all-inclusively

To be honest, there was no reason for Green to be so embarrassed about seeing Red naked; he'd taken comprehensive studies in anatomy (ugh, a bit too comprehensive) and he'd also had experience with unclothed guys at the public baths the few times he'd tried some out while traveling. He'd even seen Red in his natural glory (although that was quite a while back). But something about Red's lean, muscular shoulders and pale skin was so enticing, Green had to force himself to run off before his mind became trapped in the gutter.

Red was attractive. Even by popular standards, his pale complexion, thin nose and large eyes were pretty. And the more Green saw of Red, the harder it became to resist an intimate action.

518. fraught: full of a particular quality

Green prepared to spend the night sandwiched between Arcanine and Umbreon, but Red gestured for him to sleep in the nest. Green found the layers of cloth surprisingly comfortable, and would have easily passed out if it hadn't been for the sheer proximity to Red and the fact that Green was buried in things fraught with Red's scent. There was enough space for both of them to lie on their backs, but in doing so, their hands brushed together, and their fingers subsequently intertwined.

519. rue: to regret

Green rued all the times he'd left without sleeping over. He was currently so close to Red, he could easily hear the other's slow breathing and relaxed heart beat. Unable to sleep so easily, Green struck up a conversation.

"Hi Red."

Red squeezed his hand in response. He was listening.

"I love you."

Another squeeze.

520. venturesome: adventurous, risky, daring

And then a venturesome move. Red rolled over to face Green, and then pecked the other on the lips.

Green's eyes widened as Red then buried his face in Green's chest. Green brushed his own lips with a hand, hardly believing what had just happened, and then rolled over to hug Red even closer. If Red was willing to love Green, Green'd give Red everything he had.


	53. Chapter 53

N doesn't like me

srsly my "n" key is kind of hard to press so just saying? is it a sign?

guys i dont do dance but i tried once and now i watch little girls and im crying why are they so good

* * *

521. noxious: harmful to health or the mind

Red woke up at the crack of dawn, rising with the sun and ready to start the new day. He gently unwrapped Green's arms and wrapped his feet in socks and stirred up embers from the fire. He went outside to check on the weather, shivering a little. The pokemon awoke soon afterwards, and their ruffling and yawning woke Green up. He had the vague feeling that he was forgetting something important, and the noxious thought hung over his head like the clouds blanketing the world outside. He opened an eye and stared at the rock ceiling. And saw a Golbat. And then sat up and ran for Arcanine.

522. desist: to cease; stop

The cave floor was icy cold as he ran over to sit on Arcanine. The canine grumbled, but didn't move. Green kept his eyes on the Golbat, and tightly wrapped his arms around his body; he was only wearing a shirt and boxers, and it was _cold_. He eventually realized that yes, Golbat did indeed sleep with their eyes wide open (lagophthalmos? He'd never heard of that in pokemon) and their mouths still open and gaping. Green rubbed his feet and then hopped on the balls of his feet to the laundry line, and shrugged on his jacket and pulled on some pants and socks.

523. founder: to sink below the water; to fall completely; to go lame (of horses)

Seeing his clothes reminded him of normalcy and the fact that he needed to be down the mountain in an hour and a half. His brain foundered in indecision - he wanted to stay, of course, but he _really_ had to get down to email Steven and find a job, and check if his apartment was still standing because come to think of it, he might have left the stove on... And brush his teeth. No, he was not yet on the intimacy level nor was he willing to share a toothbrush.

Red walked back in the cave just as Green pulled on his other boot. Red stared, and then walked over to the fake tree and pulled out Green's pokeballs. Green face palmed, and then gratefully took them and recalled his pokemon.

"I'm sorry Red, I need to get down now. I-I'm going." Red slowly nodded, and Green turned.

524. trudge: to walk in a heavy-footed way

Green trudged out of the cavern and was just stepping into the snow when he felt Red grab his shoulder. He turned around, and Red placed the apple blossom branch in his jacket pocket. Green'd almost forgot it - he had taken it out of his shirt last night before bathing - and he smiled apologetically.

"Can't believe I forgot this. Um, wait for me, I'll be back in a while? I li- love you." He flushed red. Red stared at him with the smallest of smiles, and then murmured his agreement.

"Love you too. Congratulations with Umbreon."

Green nodded. And then he noticed Red, the silly boy, was standing in the snow with just socks and a shirt and boxers. "Uh thanks, now shoo, go inside and put some clothes on before you freeze to death. And, smell ya later!"

525. disenchant: to free from false belief

Green set off down the path and Red waved at his back. Red wondered if he should have disenchanted Green by reminding him that Green actually smelled like Red's shampoo right now. Red shook off snow from his socks and padded back in the cavern. His team was waiting around the fire, and Pika was already telling stories of training (torturing) Green's team.

Red went around and hugged each of his team members. It was good to be together again.

526. squalid: having a dirty or lowly appearance

After climbing down off the peak and reaching the level below the clouds, Green released Pidgeot and flew the rest of the way to Viridian. It was good to fly on Pidgeot - after the bumpy flights and trouble teaching Pidgeotto how to fly straight, it was like riding a luxury aircraft. Green examined Pidgeot's recent injuries, and found the bird had gained some impressive shoulder muscles in just two weeks. He patted the bird and guessed that his level had jumped from training with Red. Green leaned closer and tried to preserve the heat emanating from the feathery body.

Leaving the majesty of the mountains and entering civilization make the normally aesthetically pleasing structures look squalid and absurdly geometric in comparison. As they flew over Indigo Plateau, he spied a huge blast behind the building. Koga burning trash?

527. servile: slavish; abjectly submissive

Green still found something strangely servile and odd about the greatest trainers in the region cleaning up trash. He signaled Pidgeot to turn to circle around the blast. It was indeed, Koga burning trash, and once only about forty or so feet off the ground, Green whistled. Koga looked up, and then threw a _freaking kunai_ at Pidgeot, who dodged it sharply.

"WHAT THE FUCK MAN?" Green screamed, and his voice echoed.

"NICE PIDGEOT!" boomed Koga. "TRY AGAIN!" Koga tossed another couple kunai, and Pidgeot folded in his feathers to speed up and avoid them all expertly, and then spread his wings to gain height and get out of range.

528. pallid: faint in color; pale

Green's face was turning pallid from the knives flying dangerously close. Koga was out of his mind. When Pidgeot got to about a hundred feet up, Koga stopped throwing, waved, and then casually walked back into the building. Green had half a mind to drag him out and ask what the hell was going on, but decided against it and hurried on to Viridian.

529. assess: to estimate

It was close to 8 AM when Pidgeot descended in front of the gym gracefully. Green stroked Pidgeot's crest, and the bird cawed proudly before Green recalled it and stepped in the gym. Green rummaged through the mailbox for new, a letter, anything from Lance confirming and publicizing the new rule. He found nothing, and sighed as he walked in his office to check online to assess the situation.

There were some protests, but nothing really huge; businesses wouldn't be hurt since tons of trainers passed through Viridian anyway, and few trainers were ready to challenge the gym anyway.

What was big was that Janine had responded to a demanding letter and said she'd be returning from a "training" trip in two months.

530. fraternal: showing comradeship; brotherly

The gym trainers showed up shortly later, and Green brought up Janine's return immediately.

Salma sighed. "So, we have no work for two months, but we should be prepared for a couple trainers in October?"

Green nodded. "Mhm. Hopefully she's actually 'training,' so not many will pass. Sorry guys."

The trainers laughed and threw arms around each others shoulders. Arabella spoke up. "Green, we've got this fraternal best buddies and siblings thing going on, you've done a ton already, and it's great that we finally get the chance to do something besides training. Most of us quit school early and never got a chance to learn enough to go into higher education, so we'll take this chance to really get on with life. We should be thanking you."

Green sniffed as a huge smile spread across his face. "Arceus, guys, I- you made my day. Thanks so much for being flexible."


	54. Chapter 54

531. steadfast: loyal; faithful

Green thanked Arceus for being able to have such steadfast coworkers. He showed them the official news article, and then they upped and left for the day. Green employed his sore muscles to sweep up the gym (Koga's cleaning was inspiring). At first, he used the booby traps to his advantage to carry him around, but then got ridiculously dizzy and deactivated them.

After cleaning up the place, Green boxed up the desktop in his office to carry to his apartment. Exeggutor helped to carry things over (Tyranitar and Arcanine volunteered, but Green didn't trust either with transporting fragile stuff) and then Green locked up the looted place. He'd check in on it every once in a while to make sure the traps still functioned, but until Janine came back and sent trainers hurdling his direction, he'd keep the place closed.

532. decorum: polite behavior

Normally, maintaining decorum around his neighbors came naturally, but Green couldn't find it in himself to bother about disturbing neighbors while he was trying to lug boxes into his apartment. A couple curious people poked heads around doors to check what was going on (Exeggutor made quite a bit of noise, chattering to itself while slowly lumbering up the stairs) and groan. Green spent the rest of the morning trying to move things around his desk and clean up his bedroom to place the desktop on his desk. When it buzzed to life, Green cheered along with his growling stomach.

533. repine: to be discontented or unhappy; to long for something

He checked his pantry, found it devoid of chocolate, repined, and settle for ice cream. His refrigerator was pretty empty too, so he decided to drop by the supermarket for something to actually eat.

The only people wandering the aisles were middle aged ladies, and Green felt vaguely out of place waiting in line. He was fairly tall, five foot ten, but in the midst of elderly ladies he was essentially towering over them. He ignored the cashier's stare (was seeing a young male at the supermarket that rare?) and carried two paper bags of vegetables and fruits and eggs and meat out the door, hoping the handles wouldn't pop off in the walk home.

534. authoritarian: demanding unquestioning obedience

Green had been an authoritarian trainer in his traveling days, but he'd lightened up a ton and completely changed his techniques after his loss. So right now, as he was walking home, he was tossing apples to Umbreon, who was juggling them, practicing her psychic powers. Before evolving, she'd dabbled in moves of all types, so she had surprising skill in types outside her natural realm. Green winced each time an apple came dangerously close to smashing on the ground, but each time, Umbreon would sweep it back up into the air. She was barely managing three apples; or, she was just looking as if she was struggling to mess with Green, who stumbled every time Umbreon let an apple come centimeters from the sidewalk.

535. charlatan: a fake; one who pretends to have expert knowledge

Once Green realized that Umbreon was playing with him, he tossed another apple into her juggling circle, and she took it easily. Green tossed in another one experimentally, and then realized that Umbreon was actually struggling to walk, so he put down a bag, took a picture, laughed, and then had Umbreon toss the apples into the paper bag. Green had half a mind to post the picture on the Internet to brush all the charlatan psychics off.

536. tribulation: great misery or distress

He decided against it (privacy was important) and settled for just hurrying home before he got any more weird stares from passers by. Back at his apartment, he again played with Umbreon, tossing groceries into the refrigerator and pantry, and wincing after each none too gentle slam when Umbreon got careless. After improvising and making an omelette, he returned to his bedroom to begin the tribulation of research and convincing Brock to give him the Enigma Stone. Not an easy task, considering how they'd never been on friendly terms.

537. telltale: indicating or revealing information

There was a crazy amount of myths from Hoenn talking about the Eon duo, and even more stories and reports of sighting all over. Filtering through fact and fiction was incredibly difficult, and the afternoon passed quickly, searching for actual evidence. Bringing Latias to the Enigma Stone would be a pretty darn effective way to prove to Brock just what he had in the museum. Albeit showy, he couldn't think of anything much more conclusive that that, so he emailed the Hoenn champion, Sapphire, for the details on Latias' location.

538. adverse: opposed, difficult

Sapphire apparently still recalled who he was, and although not entirely adverse to his plan, she didn't really help, as she gave vague comments about how Latias didn't stay in a single location, and the only thing that was regular about her travels was the fact that Latias was constantly on the move, searching for Latios. With legendary level psychic powers, it was strange that the Enigma Stone hadn't received attention yet. Were that few people acquainted with Brock and Steven? They were both rock enthusiasts, so it wouldn't be surprising for them to have met up before.

Green dug around and with a little bit of hacking help from Porygon-Z, he found that the museum also had a high level psychic barrier set up around it to detect people coming in and out. The psychic barrier also prevented the psychic energy from leaking out, and nullified the energy radiation in the zone so that psychic pokemon passing by could only sense a bubble of emptiness and not see inside.

539. astute: showing clever awareness, especially with respect to one's own concerns

Green excitedly hopped outside and released Pidgeot, taking only the bird and Exeggutor with him. They flew on over to Pewter (ah, flying with Pidgeot was really a treat) to drop by and test out the effectiveness of the barrier with Exeggutor. His results proved consistent with the research - and upon entering the museum, there was only a faint, blurry buzzing of psychic energy. Exeggutor could sense the source of the field, but the area was still blocked off and he wasn't exactly the sneakiest pokemon.

Pidgeot popped them back off at Viridian, and Green thanked Arceus that he had such opportune timing to check the Enigma stone out with Espeon, easily one of the strongest and most astute psychic pokemon in Kanto (even Sabrina's weren't up to par with Red's pokemon).

540. conjugal: pertaining to marriage relationships

Talking about strong psychics in Kanto, there was also Mewtwo (Mew probably would vanish before he even got within a hundred miles of the legendary). Getting help from the pokemon would be a wholly different deal from just casually walking in a museum with Exeggutor. He'd have to find a bargaining tool to convince Mewtwo to help him find Latias.

Green briefly weighed the conjugal loyalty of Janine and Falkner. Falkner was a pretty serious dude, so he might just keep Janine a little more than two months. Green crossed his fingers and hoped that Falkner could delay Janine a bit longer so he could get his job from Steven before challengers arrived.

Two months was pretty long for Green, who was known in the scientific community for pumping out work at inhuman speeds, but he had no clue whether he'd be able to befriend the monstrously powerful pokemon in two months. The current plan being, become buddies with Mewtwo, find Latias, prove the existence of Latios' soul, maybe revive Latios, amaze Steven, and get hired. A bit extreme and amazing, but hey, Green was all for going to extremes and it took him twelve years to work things out with Red.


	55. Chapter 55

i fell asleep while typing i was tired oops

sorry for disconnected thoughts

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541. reverie: daydream

The sun set way too early for Green's liking - he'd just started getting some leads on Latias' location when his stomach reminded him it was time to eat. Working and thinking at a desk caught Green's attention and held it captive while time flew by; when he snapped out of his reverie the sky was already darkening outside.

Umbreon had escaped from her pokeball and was curled up at the kitchen windowsill, watching street lamps flicker on. Green poured her a dish of lactose-free milk, and filled a bowl for himself. Maybe cereal for dinner wasn't the healthiest or smartest decision, but his brain and body were exhausted. He'd come running down a mountain just that morning to open the gym on time in case the rule didn't go into effect immediately, only to find that his worries were meaningless because things were actually working and life was piecing together.

542. filial: like or relating to daughter or son

The relationship as trainer and pokemon had turned into something more filial after Green ended his journey and rethought his goals. Quitting the whole battling and traveling business had left Green lost for months afterwards; without battling or the desire to battle, it was like he had no meaning, no purpose, no ambitions left in life. Quitting had been painful, and although Gramps and Daisy had gently tried pushing him back onto the road, he'd lost all the fire and exuberance that he had once found in battling. He settled for actually befriending his pokemon, and developing on their relationships. He'd missed enough of that while feverishly fighting to become stronger, ignoring subjective thoughts and solely pursuing objective goals.

Green had stopped beleaguering his pokemon with training regimes and instead had begun worrying about their futures; his pokemon were all male except for Umbreon, and as far as he knew, they were all single. Well, Umbreon was getting along suspiciously well with Espeon (was that how it felt to give a daughter away in marriage?), but the rest of Green's pokemon seemed happy being single. Maybe a trip to the ranch could fix that...

543. accomplice: accessory; one who assists in a crime

Green scooped up the soggy pieces of cereal from the bottom of his bowl and then chugged the milk and walked over to return it to the fridge. He absent-mindedly opened the freezer on accident, and then noticed a large pan wrapped in aluminum foil with a note from Yellow.

"Hi Green! As apology for barging in on your apartment, I made a meat pie! It should last you a couple days - just pop it in the microwave to heat!"

Green groaned - he'd just finished a bowl of cereal only to realize he'd missed something fancy in comparison. He slid the pan out and juggled it from hand to hand, trying to wrap his fingers with the edges of his shirt to create a protective layer; the pan was so cold it almost burned. He lifted off the aluminum foil and marveled at the cold, golden crusted pie. His dormant hunger reawakened, and he eagerly sliced out a small portion.

The inside was a mix of thin slices of meat, onions, garlic, spices, and... potatoes. Potatoes were incriminating evidence of Leaf being an accomplice in cooking - although Leaf's culinary skills were decent, she really, really, _really_ liked potatoes. Green sent a picture of the slice in the microwave to Leaf and Yellow.

544. epic: a long narrative poem, in a dignified style, celebrating the deeds of a hero

8:50 PM - Green: [image] (sent)

The microwave dinged, and Green reached in, burned his hands on the hot plate and juggled it to the table. He ran his hands under cold water and then got out a fork and prepared to dig in.

8:55 PM - Leaf: dude im jelly ive been stuck in sinnoh for like ten hours since my connecting flight got messed up by weather

8:55 PM - Leaf: Yellow's a beast at cooking

8:56 PM - Leaf: right?

8:58 PM - Leaf: Green did u die on me im so bored

8:58 PM - Leaf: bruh pls talk to me im hungry

9:00 PM - Green: Yellow is Arceus

9:00 PM - Leaf: ikr man her food is the fattiest stuff ever but it is sooooo good

9:01 PM - Leaf: i wrote her an epic about her food when iwas drunk at her house once lolol

9:02 PM - Leaf: [image]

545. demur: to object; to disagree with something

Green was chewing a mouthful of warm, greasy heaven, and he was currently on a level with the gods and regaining faith in humanity. He swallowed as Leaf disrupted his enjoyment, read her texts, and he opened the image file, and true enough, there was Leaf, holding up a napkin with horrible writing, or more like messy ink scratches. And if given the right to demur without being uppercutted by Leaf, he'd mention that the "epic" was close to a haiku.

546. torrid: parched with heat; ardent or passionate

9:02 PM - Leaf: i doubt u cn read it sorry lol

9:02 PM - Leaf: well basically i wrote that Yellows food was hot and greasy and delicious like her body

9:02 PM - Leaf: probably too torrid eh

9:02 PM - Leaf: Green talk to me pls why u so silent

547. undermine: to weaken

Green swallowed the last of the meat pie, and then swept up the crumbs and ate those too. Leaf's conversation had been undermining his connection with the divine and food gods (did those exist?). Green just wanted to sit in his quiet bedroom, to avoid the outside world and meditate with the pie and discover the meaning of food and life.

548. repartee: a quick, witty reply; a series of such replies

Interrupted from his path to food nirvana, Green was not happy. He tried to come up with a clever repartee or comeback to Leaf's texts.

9:03 PM - Green: stop being a shrub, Leaf

549. elocution: the art of public speaking, with attention to delivery

Green had mostly avoided the name puns so typical of Pallet. Leaf had developed violent tendencies after being ridiculed a couple times; her entire elocution would change from a soprano down to an alto, and her bubbly happiness would transform into darker stares. If Green had said that in person, he'd be running for his life. Ah, technology.

550. yearn: to desire strongly, especially in a melancholy way

9:04 PM - Leaf: u did not

9:04 PM - Leaf: imma pulverize you, beansprout (read)

Green chuckled as he read the familiar threat. He'd become accustomed to Leaf's threats. He sent a smiling cat emoticon back.

He put down his phone and stared at the meat pie longingly. His tongue and stomach yearned for more, but his brain casually mused and calculated just about how many calories were in each bite. Green'd probably have to do some exercise to burn off all that greasy deliciousness he'd just eaten. He put the pie back in the freezer and then dumped his plate in the sink and walked over to the apartment entrance to tie on running shoes. He hadn't used those in a while.


	56. Chapter 56

551. boor: someone who is impolite and rude

Umbreon was excited to be out in the dark; while Green was running, she ran circles around him, said hello to noctowls, chased down oddish on the side of the road, and played tag with stray meowth. Green knew she wasn't trying to be boorish and that she was just having the time of her life, but each time she disappeared for more than a minute he would start to freak out and call out loudly for her (luckily it was pretty late and not many people were still out). Pokenappers were not unheard of, and Umbreon was a real beauty for her species.

They made a loop around the city; Green probably ran the equivalent of two laps though, as he was always running back and forth to look for Umbreon, who'd be happily wandering the trees and bushes right outside the road.

552. dogma: a specific set of ideas or beliefs, especially religious or asserted to be absolutely true

For the last stretch, Green scooped up Umbreon in his arms, hugged her tightly, and then ran home. She mewled her protest, rubbing her nose on Green's neck and tickling him to let her go, but he controlled the tickle spasm and ran faster.

When he got back to his apartment, he let Umbreon down to unlock the door. He immediately walked to the bathroom, his shirt sweaty and a touch dirty from the dirt Umbreon had on her coat.

"Hey girl, how about I give you a bath?"

Umbreon nodded and jumped in the tub and turned on the spout to blast hot water. She pulled back rapidly when the water first came out icy cold, but tested the stream with a paw as it slowly heated to the desired temperature. Green pulled out special shampoo for her (her coat was special - normal stuff would dry it out and leave her itchy and irritated for days) and massaged it into her coat, watching the bubbles foam into a slightly brownish color from all the dirt she'd accumulated while running around. In Green's opinion, cleanliness was an important dogma, but he usually let pokemon clean themselves off; he wondered how much of the dirt he was washing out was old stuff.

553. secluded: hidden; removed; sheltered

After washing Umbreon, he pulled out a hairdryer and turned it on. Umbreon paced back and forth in the hot wind, purring at the warmth. Beads of water skipped off her fur, and she let the dryer blow her short hair until she was a warm, puffed up fluffball. Green switched the hairdryer off and then shooed her out of the bathroom before she got wet again while he was showering.

There was a window in the bathroom, presumably to let out steam; if the apartment was any less secluded, Green might have permanently set up blinds to cover it. He sighed as the warm water ran down his back. The shower head was becoming a little blocked up with accumulated sediment and the water kind of half-heartedly shot out. He made a mental note to poke out the sediment from the nozzles, and rubbed his scalp with his normal shampoo.

554. trifle: something that lacks significance or worth

Finding the same brand of shampoo was a trifle, but Green made it a point to always buy this one brand with a kind of citrus smell. He'd used it for a long, long time; there was a pretty creepy story to it though. At the peak of his fame, around five years ago, he'd started getting the weirdest fanmail. One girl had sent him recommendations for shampoo... Her card had said something like, "Hi Green! I work at the Celadon Department Store and you're hot and I think you'd smell really nice with this shampoo!" Green had grimaced at the creepiness, but kept the brand name in mind and tried it out the next time he dropped by. He'd actually really liked it, and had kept using it ever since.

555. preclude: to make impossible; to prevent the occurrence of

Of course, washing his hair off precluded keeping the smell of Red, but hygiene was more important than creepy fetishes. He finished washing up and wrapped a towel around himself and stepped out of the shower, trying not to drip puddles across the floor. The mirror was fogged up, an he could faintly see his own outline. He turned so he could see his side, and looking closely he might have lost some flab. He stepped on the scale - it seemed as though he hadn't lost anything, but attributing some weight to his wet hair and damp towel, he'd probably lost around two or three pounds from the last time he'd checked, which was... three weeks ago?

556. limpid: perfectly clear; transparent

He opened the bathroom door and let the steam blow out, and the mirror gradually became limpid. His stomach was definitely not beer belly level (ugh gross) but it wasn't exactly toned or muscular (like Red's...) either. He tried tensing, saw nothing, and then covered his face and wondered why he was even trying to compare with the mountain main.

557. purse: to contract into wrinkles or folds; to pucker

He tossed on clothes and walked into the kitchen, rubbing his hair furiously to extract the moisture (he thought it was so annoying when his hair dripped on his shirt). He poured himself a glass of orange juice (he tasted it and then pursed his lips; the stuff was probably close to pure sugar) and then trudged back to his bedroom and flopped down in front of the desktop to get back to work. Umbreon was curled up on his bed, a fuzzy back lump, her rings glowing.

558. stricture: a restraint or limit

Green had read plenty of articles which recommended setting strictures to regulate sleep hours - most recommended sleeping at eleven, and mentioned that sleeping any later was unhealthy. However, procrastination on school projects and insomnia in his youth had given Green the ability to stay up until three before wondering whether he should turn in for the night. During the night, he lost track of time especially easily, and when he shut off his desktop because his eyes were blurring, he glanced at the clock as he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. 2:48 AM.

559. retire: to retreat, as if from battle

After retiring for the night, he gently relocated Umbreon to the side of the bed so he wouldn't accidentally roll over and squish her. She whimpered as she was moved to a cold section of bed sheet (she's made that one spot so warm), and Green passed out shortly.

560. pact: an agreement between persons, groups, or nations

Green had a lot more memories as dreams than actual fantastical dreams. That night, the scene that came to mind was him and Red and Leaf sitting in a circle in someone's room (he'd forgotten exactly whose). He heard his younger self happily agreeing to the pact: to always be together.


	57. Chapter 57

if you love joe hisaishi throw your hands up in the air

im a sucker for studio ghibli stuff haha

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561. hibernate: to sleep throughout the winter

Green might have hibernated through the morning of Umbreon hadn't tickled him awake. He bolted upright and tossed on a jacket and sprinted to the gym, only to realize halfway that, hey, he didn't have to go to gym for two months. Umbreon snickered when Green stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, hand on his knees and panting. She rubbed against his shins and then scampered off to the cafe.

562. paltry: lacking importance or worth; contemptibly small

Green ran a hand through his hair, trying to calm the bed head. He walked in the cafe and sat down at his window seat, where Umbreon was waiting. The waiter was someone new this time - Green made a note to only come here in the early morning so as to avoid the flirty waitresses. He ordered a vanilla cocoa and their breakfast bagel special, and then took out a comb to brush Umbreon's coat while he was waiting. His creamy drink came a couple minutes later, and he savored the rich flavor (sooo much better than instant coffee).

Their bagel had looked fairly substantial in the menu, so Green was mildly disappointed by the paltry size of the actual thing. He hid his displeasure (he had plenty of experience with that after surviving Leaf) and took a bite. It had eggs and meat and cheese inside, and was delicious and surprisingly filling. Sipping the last of the cocoa after finishing the bagel was a wonderful, sweet conclusion to breakfast.

563. clan: a group of several families descended from a common ancestor and sharing a family name

The Oak clan had a secret history of incurable sweet tooths. Green was no exception - he spent free time trying to figure out the mysteries of baking and chocolate. The first thing he did when he got home was to search up a recipe for vanilla cocoa, print it out, and tape it to his fridge before tackling work.

Late last night, Green had found a valuable clue: he'd listed and plotted all plausible sightings of Latias in the past three years on a world map, and found that she circled mostly around Hoenn, and for each two or three sightings in Hoenn there was one in Kanto. Although the sightings in Hoenn were scattered and distributed indiscriminately, the sightings in Kanto were centered around Pewter and Cerulean. Her travels between regions were also fairly consistent - she spent late spring and summer wandering Kanto before flying back to circle Hoenn.

564. rejoinder: an answer, especially to another answer

Green plotted the data out, and came to the conclusion that Latias was most likely still in Kanto but probably leaving for Hoenn soon. Since she was circling around Pewter and Cerulean, she'd either sensed the Enigma Stone somehow through the barrier, or tried to ask Mewtwo for help and just got rejected every time, or both. Green could totally imagine antisocial Mewtwo making a snarky rejoinder to Latias asking for help; Latias would probably say something along the lines of "Help me," and then Mewtwo would casually open an eye and say "Sleep is a gift. Let your brother rest" or something else deep and meaningful so he wouldn't have to move.

565. lineage: direct descent from an ancestor; derivation

Myths and Green's own sighting of Mew showed that at least Mew was a happy fellow - despite what he'd gone through, one would think that Mewtwo'd have some trace of Mew's lineage and be helpful once in a while.

Green had few connections in Cerulean, the sleepy town ruled by a demon lady with sister problems. He wasn't willing to stay in a hotel there either, after what'd happened with the fanboys. He hummed and leaned back in his chair and thought of places to stay to befriend Mewtwo.

566. mania: an excessively intense desire

Green pondered how long he'd survive if he bought a tent and camped right in front of Mewtwo. He'd heard that people that only trained psychics sometimes spent weeks just sitting next to their pokemon, letting their minds be read and baring their souls to gain trust. Those kinds of people probably had such intense manias to connect with psychics that they had nothing to hide. On the other hand, if Green tried that, he could imagine the various ways Mewtwo might crack up and laugh at his embarrassing moments.

Hey. That might work. Great friends make fun of each other. Right?

567. squabble: a noisy argument, especially over an unimportant matter

His ego squabbled a little bit, but his adventurous and curious side won out. Besides, seeing Mewtwo's poker face change would be a huge win (maybe Green could make that deep crease in between Mewtwo's brow bones disappear). And Mewtwo probably wouldn't feel like dropping by Mt. Silver to gossip with Red about Green's weirdness, so at least his secrets would remain just between the two of them. Hopefully?

568. ruse: an action or device intended to deceive

It was a crazy ruse, to say the least - well, not so much a ruse as it was a ridiculous plan that might plague and shame him for life. Well, one had to make sacrifices to hit success hard. At least Mewtwo had promised to not hurt him.

He sat up from his chair and rummaged through his closet to find the sleeping bag he'd lugged around when he was eleven. He could drop by the friendly bike man if he needed a bathroom break or food - the senile old man probably would be happy to see anybody drop by. So, toothbrush, water bottle, laptop, that one book Daisy'd told him to read a year ago but he'd never gotten to reading...

569. induce: to influence, especially by persuasion; to bring

He had his things all packed up and ready to go, and he briefly wondered what in the world would induce him to camp out with the strongest psychic pokemon and tell all his embarrassing stories. It'd be a unique experience for sure, but as for how effective it would be, who knew. Well, he'd be willing to give it a try. He was Green after all, and Green lived off of strange experiences and adrenaline when he wasn't sitting at a desk.

570. morbid: gruesome; awful

After lunch (cereal), he cheerfully told Pidgeot to fly him to Cerulean Cave, and the bird deadpanned before sweeping Green up and flying on over. Green tried to not think morbid thoughts of famous horror movies about psychic murderers and people that'd gone insane during psychic training. Now, how was Mewtwo doing today?


	58. Chapter 58

holy crap this is getting pretty darn long

im guessing 225k words by the time i finish wowowow

thanks to all reviewers and favoriters and followers! awesome to know that other people actually enjoy this hehe

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571. sabotage: to deliberately obstruct or destroy

Pidgeot did some tricky maneuvers to drop him off right outside the cave entrance, and he almost stumbled into the sea inlet from momentum. A rock saved him by tripping him and having him fall before he had the chance to run into the sea. He acquainted himself with the ground, and slowly sat up, nursing a couple scratches. Already, his plan was being sabotaged by... the geography. Ok, maybe he shouldn't have been so paranoid about fanboys and should have landed in the city instead of on the tiny land strip outside the cave.

572. urbane: sophisticated

Green prided himself on being urbane in most social situations - situations involving people he needed to impress. He did not need to impress golbats. So he abandoned any semblance of dignity and strapped two flashlights to his backpack straps (he could clearly imagine laughter; "_those headlights though_"), and proceeded to storm into the cave. The worst thing he could do was sneak up on Mewtwo and startle the creature.

573. livid: extremely angry; discolored, as from a bruise; pale, ashen

Green startled some wild pokemon, but Umbreon was able to ward off even the most livid pokemon. They hissed at the lights, and Green acceded and turned off one flashlight, and put the other in his hand. The flashlights were piercingly bright, and on the second floor, the rays ricocheted and bounced between crystals, effectively forming a whole bubble of light wherever he pointed the light. As he navigated the maze of crystals, his thoughts seemed to slow down, and his sense of time became warped in traversing the darkness.

At last, he reached the end of the second floor maze and climbed the ladders that eventually led him to the underground floor; as his foot left the last rung on the ladder and touched the ground, Mewtwo's telepathic voice rang in his ears.

"Why are you here again?"

574. misogyny: hatred of women

Green looked around but couldn't see the pokemon. He tentatively called out. "I, uh, came to say hang out...?"

And silence. After affirming that Mewtwo wasn't going to respond any time soon, Green continued walking forward. Mewtwo wasn't at his usual spot, but Umbreon led him down the set of stairs and found the pokemon staring into the water. Umbreon walked over, but Mewtwo pushed her back with a psychic hand.

"I do not like females."

Green furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't swing for girls, but he wasn't some kind of misogynist. What, was Mewtwo having problems with sexual identity?

575. droll: amusing in an odd or wry way

"How very droll. I am quite certainly male; the human who implanted his DNA in me was a male. However, I was not created to have reproductive organs, and I thus do not feel attraction to the opposite sex."

Green grimaced. Ah, mind reading. "It's ok if you don't like girls, but that doesn't give you the right to hate them."

576. corpulent: very fat; obese

Mewtwo paused. "...several female researchers promised me freedom. Perhaps it was some twisted maternal instinct to take me out of my imprisonment, but they never fulfilled their promises." The psychic dipped his tail in the water and watched the ripples spread on the deathly still surface. "At least the males told me what would happen. They told me exactly how I'd be tortured. They didn't lie." Mewtwo flicked the water across the surface. "Females are kind. Foolishly so. They gave me a reason to live - I was that desperate for their love." He lifted his tail out of the water and turned to face Green, his eyes blank. "They died first in the explosion. Too weak."

Green was at a loss for words. How did one respond to such dark emotions? "...Do you remember them? Their faces?"

"They were the first things I saw when I opened my eyes. Of course I remember." Mewtwo turned away. "One was thin. Old and thin and too kind. The other was... corpulent. Too loving. The rest were males."

577. resolve: to make a firm decision; to find a solution to

Asking questions was like walking on eggshells; Green had no clue when Mewtwo would kick him out for being nosy. "...Why did you love them?"

"I was alone. They were there." Mewtwo spoke no more, and Green settled for sitting down on the cave floor a good distance away to wait for more. Umbreon curled up on his lap and watched Mewtwo. Green waited at least ten minutes before Mewtwo spoke again. "Why do you care?"

Green shrugged. "Just wanted to see how you're doing. Not well, apparently."

Mewtwo stared at him. "I am doing fine. I have resolved to forgive and forget, and although isolation proves ineffective, as you and that girl still come, it allows me time to think."

578. acute: sharp; clever; severe

"You've been thinking for an awful long time."

"...I have yet to discover my answer. My way. Why I live."

"...Who's the girl? Thought you didn't trust girls." Green had, quite acutely, picked up that small comment about there being another visitor.

"Bianca."

Green tried to put a face to the name - a certain Unovan blond assistant researcher popped up. "Blond girl, green eyes and red glasses? Kind of ditzy?"

"No. Dit-see," Mewtwo frowned as he tried to enunciate the word, "or scatter-brained, yes. Bianca is a redhead."

579. ponderous: clumsy and heavy; boring and labored

"Hmm." Green dug into his backpack and checked his phone to see whether or not he had signal. Hanging out with the strongest psychic pokemon was less... stressful than he'd imagined. Mewtwo was a touch taciturn and a bit of a people-hater, but had decent manners. He squinted at his phone's overwhelmingly bright screen, and saw zero bars.

"You are strange."

Green looked up. "Uh, ok." Mewtwo was now experimentally walking on water, probably skillfully manipulating dense balls of psychic energy to form stepping stones. Although it should have been an incredibly hard and ponderous process, the pokemon looked totally at ease. Strange? Speak for yourself?

"Red is a good human."

580. accord: agreement

"Mhm." Green nodded in accord before even beginning to comprehend the implications. "Wait, why're you bringing up Red?"

"He appears in many of your treasured, high priority memories as well as in your desires. I presume you have interest in him."

"...You can see things that easily? Like, I don't even have to be thinking about what you want to see, and you can just dig it up yourself?"

"Child's play."

Green watched Mewtwo gracefully tiptoe across the water surface, and then squat down and dip his hand in the water. Mewtwo's powers were probably unfathomable in energy measures. "Uh-huh."


	59. Chapter 59

omg i started watching the pokemon origins episodes at last

their voices are so cute

lol red's VA junko takeuchi does naruto and lambo and so many cute kids it's funny hearing her again i stopped watching anime for a while

this is a weird chapter

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581. vanquish: to defeat, especially totally

"As for Latias, I believe she may have a strong connection to Bianca. Bianca does not act very human - she may be a very elaborately created illusion. She would have to be a powerful psychic. Most likely Latias." Mewtwo took a palm full of water and then with a brief flash, was standing in a flutter of ice crystals. How powerful did psychics have to be in order to earn Mewtwo's respect?

"...Wow. Have you told her about the Stone in Pewter?"

"Although I have easily vanquished nearly all psychics that have come to challenge me, she is the first to create such a strong illusion."

"...the Stone?"

Mewtwo became silent.

582. exasperate: to make very impatient; to annoy greatly

The psychic pokemon walked back to the shore. Green belatedly wondered if he'd exasperated Mewtwo a bit too much. Mewtwo walked to the shore, and even further; he stopped around five feet away from Green, and stared down. Umbreon jumped up and poised aggressively.

"No. I have not informed her."

"Why?"

583. trite: worn out, used too often

"...The reason has become something trite in my life story. A sad repetition of the past."

"I don't do riddle-speak, sorry."

"...I am alone. If I tell her, our connection will break." Mewtwo turned and walked back to the water. Umbreon relaxed.

584. telling: strikingly effective

Green had begun to develop suspicions, but everything was confirmed at that point. Mewtwo wasn't giving Latias anything because he didn't want to be alone. "I thought you disliked girls."

"I do."

"But your loneliness is greater than your fear of girls?"

Mewtwo snorted. "It is no fear. Rather, a mistrust."

Green ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. "If I visit a ton, will you tell her?"

Silence. Ah, promises weren't telling arguments.

"You know, you could either do that, or I could camp right here until she comes and tell her myself."

"Please yourself."

585. voluble: talkative

Mewtwo had been surprisingly voluble, and while Green unrolled his sleeping bag and chewed on some cereal (he'd brought the whole bag with him) there was simply silence. Well, Mewtwo was amazingly sneaky at pulling up his thoughts without him even noticing, so, maybe Mewtwo was actually laughing at him for trying to dance with Leaf when she was drunk.

When Green slipped off into unconsciousness, Mewtwo hopped back and sat beside Green. Umbreon stared at the psychic, but feeling no hostile energy, she relaxed. The cave echoed with drips of water and Green's steady breathing.

586. dampen: to deaden, restrain, or repress

A while later, Green woke up feeling like nothing could dampen his energy. Mewtwo was also snoozing, _right next to him_. Green sat up cautiously and rummaged through his bag for his cereal. However, the crinkling of plastic gave him away and the psychic was awake in a flash with a gigantic spoon at Green's throat. A spoon?

"Uh... g'morning." Green looked at Mewtwo, who blinked a couple times before widening his eyes in recognition and lowering his... weapon?

"...It is two hours to midnight."

587. transparent: obvious; undisguised

"Really?" Green calmed his heart and rummaged through his pockets for his phone. The digital clock flashed back 10:02. "Wow, how can you tell in here?"

"The magneton are becoming more active. More importantly, why are you still here?"

"To wait for Lati- um, Bianca?"

"When humans sleep, they let down their guards entirely. Your existence was transparent. I saw everything you can remember."

"...ahaha..." Well, at least he could've waited until Green was awake and could see his reaction! Ugh so embarrassing...

588. perspicacious: having keen perception or understanding

"You are fairly perspicacious for a human. You would have no problem finding other ways to enter De-vahn. Why do you choose the path of most resistance?"

"Cause... it's fun?"

"Is this amusing to you?"

"Eh..." Green scratched his head. "I like doing things with a bang."

"..."

"I kind of have to use the bathroom... I'll make a trip out and be right back. Do you like cake? Actually, do you eat?"

589. tamp: to pack tightly by tapping repeatedly

"No."

Green deadpanned. "...then how..."

"I do not eat, as you do. I take in energy from the surroundings." Mewtwo held out a palm, and looking closely, Green could see a faint pink aura. Mewtwo seemed to condense the aura, tamping it together before absorbing it into his hand. Then, a sudden blast of cold air hit him. He shivered.

590. provisional: provided for the time being; temporary

"What I just took was your heat. Living creatures, especially mammals, waste remarkable amounts of energy. I simply collect that and reuse it. Of course, if I am not careful, it can freeze and kill you. Which is why I stay here. Because I merely cause death where I pass."

"...That's actually really cool. And you can control it right, so you wouldn't be killing people, right? Like, I didn't die?"

"That amount I just took was provisional; it would last me no more than a minute. When I sleep or am inactive, I use minimal energy. Here, I can live. I need not fear hurting others. The numerous wild pokemon lend me heat, and I create pressure to keep silly humans out."

"...What if I brought you a heater?"

"You humans waste so much energy in powering your silly devices. No, it is better for me to simply take what is already here."

"If you say so. Uh, well, I gotta pee so, I'll be back later. With hot food. You can have the heat and I'll take the food. K?"


	60. Chapter 60

30%! It's been a long way since i started! Thanks for the support!

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591. nepotism: showing favoritism to relatives

Green carefully navigated the ladders out of the cavern. By the time he got outside, it was around eleven, and the sky outside was bitingly dark and cold and fresh. He took care to release Gyarados quietly in the inlet and to keep his face hidden as he quickly strode to the pokecenter. Although he was probably going a bit overboard in thinking that fanboys would still be out for his blood, it never hurt to be careful.

He arrived at the pokecenter and found it empty. The nurse gave him a curious glance as he speedily walked into the bathroom and relieved himself. On his way out, he paid for a couple magazines to pass the time in the cave, and haphazardly bought a whole box of small tarts and cakes and breads from the small bakery next door. He quietly hummed as he walked back to cross the inlet.

Green had studied some of Professor Oak's papers (no, he did not ask for the professor's nepotism, he actually bought the published magazines) and come to the conclusion that although psychics had extremely high levels of intelligence for pokemon, it was far from the human brain capacity; well, not far, but extremely different. Their IQ's were extraordinarily high, and when it came to maths and sciences they had proved extremely proficient. But when it came to ethics and morals, they did not share human emotions. However, open talking with Mewtwo, the pokemon seemed just as capable as, if not more capable than humans when it came to feeling emotions.

592. extant: currently or actually existing

He tried to recall the last EQ tests the professor had taken. He was positive that they'd done research on psychic type brains, but after the works were published it was dubious as to whether the original papers were still extant. Thinking back, Green could recall that somewhere in that research he'd jotted down something interesting in the margins; of course, he could remember that it was on the right side of the paper with an image of a the MRI scan of an abra's brain, but he could not recall what the heck he'd written down.

It was so frustrating how silly details recorded themselves while the meaningful things just floated off.

593. scathing: very harsh in something, like a remark

In his musings, he bumped into an old lady, who muttered something surprisingly scathing and inappropriate, before glancing up at Green's face.

"You little sonuva- oh hey sweetie pie, watch where you're going!"

"...Sorry miss." Green pursed his lips a little. It was a bit of a stretch to be calling her a miss. She looked seventy.

The old lady laughed, or more like wheezed with a smile. "Hoh-hoh-hoh. A young man with manners, I like it! I was just out on a night walk, and this redhead barrels into me and calls me an old _geezer_, not even an old lady, and then charges off! Kids, oh my. Well, good night, pay a little more attention to what's around you!"

"...Alright." Green dipped his head a little in a tiny bowing gesture before hurrying on off. Old ladies had frightening tempers.

594. sequel: something that follows

He sharply turned a corner and nearly had a sequel with a grumpy geezer. Green swerved out of the way just in time to avoid another collision. What was it with all these old people popping up close to midnight? Did a hags and geezers bar just open or something?

595. capricious: erratic; tending to change abruptly

Gyarados grumbled a little as he plopped into the inlet again. Green had the strangest, capricious schedule; he slept whenever he could, and screwed up his pokemon's sleep cycles. Gyarados dipped his head into the water and blew bubbles as he swam. A juvenile quirk, but his way of sulking. Some water accidentally got in his mouth, and he grimaced and reared up. Eck, sea water.

"Whoa Gyara, calm down!" Green saved a flying magazine and patted Gyarados' back. The serpentine pokemon sighed, and then resumed swimming to the little land platform outside the cave.

596. headstrong: showing determination

Green let out Umbreon, who had earlier been too sleepy to go trotting around the city and had recalled herself to go with Green (some girl with common sense had to keep an eye on the headstrong trainer). She stretched out on the small grassy area, and her golden rings seemed to glow for a second in a passing beam of moonlight, which was soon obscured by a cloud.

597. ebullient: in high spirits; boiling or seeming to boil

Back in the cave, it was still deafeningly quiet; the placid inlet waters outside seemed like raging, ebullient waves in comparison to the perfectly still waters of the cave. The silence seemed especially strong - when he'd left and entered during other times, there was at least the occasional rustling of a golbat wing or a quiet buzz of a magneto, but now it was just painfully quiet.

598. confound: to mix up or lump together indiscriminately; to confuse

Green rolled up the magazines and stuffed them in his bag so he'd have one free hand to help him in navigating the dimly lit cavern. The cave's crystals did a great job amplifying his light, but when he wasn't directly coming into contact with them, he felt like the whole place was just a beautiful, surreal, and dreamlike place. Also, the lights seemed to form hallucinations at times, and it was confounding when he came to a fork in the path and the lights were just blinding and floating everywhere.

599. ominous: threatening harm; showing evil

There is quite a big difference between peaceful silence and ominous silence, and right now Green's nerves were fraying as wild pokemon stared at him in an unsettling matter without actively challenging him. What in the world could've caused this sudden change in atmosphere?

600. offset: to balance or counteract

To offset the gloominess, Green began singing quietly as he made his way back to Mewtwo. It was a pop song by a girl singer, and although the chorus and most of the lyrics were well in his voice range, he had no hope of reaching the extraordinarily high pitched notes. But nobody said he couldn't try, so he was soon trying to screech in tune. Tough stuff.


	61. Chapter 61

THIS FUDGING "n" KEY

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601. alleviate: to reduce pain, especially temporarily or without removing its cause

Arceus must have been trying to punish him for singing that one quite inappropriate song at the top of his lungs, because he stubbed his pinky toe on a rock that definitely wasn't there the last time he came through. Green hopped around on the other foot and hugged his injured foot in a totally insensible way so as to alleviate the pain. Not that it worked, but when he stopped hopping around, Umbreon came over to nuzzle him, and that really made everything better.

602. reprise: a recurrence or resumption of an action

He decided not to reprise the song and settled for uncomfortably walking in the oppressive silence. When he finally got to Mewtwo's little place, he briefly saw a redhead girl - or did he? What he thought he saw seemed to vanish, and instead he found himself looking at a rock pillar that vaguely could pass off as human from afar. He walked over to his sleeping bag and threw down his backpack and box of cakes. Then, he walked back to the strange human rock and stared at it, examining the crevices before shrugging and admitting that he had really mistaken a pillar of rocks for a girl.

603. disparate: entirely unlike

Green pondered for a bit what in the world could have made him think such completely disparate things to be the same. Where was Mewtwo? And anyway, redhead, redhead... Wait. Wait, wait a second, hold up, that was... Bianca, so...

He kept an eye on the rock and called out hesitantly. "Latias?"

At first there was no response, but after around ten seconds of staring, he saw the rock _wiggle, _and transform into the pokemon itself.

604. jovial: full of hearty, playful good humor

She was not at all put out by the fact she'd been recognized; if anything, she was jovial and cooed happily. Latias teleported to being right next to him, where she rubbed her head against Green's shoulder and slowly dropped on top of his sleeping bag with a couple puffs of feathers. She curiously opened his box of cakes and Green stared slack-jawed as she happily devoured an apple tart. Since when did they become so close?

605. denounce: to speak out against; to accuse publicly

Latias turned to face him indignantly, as if he'd denounced her out loud, in her face. Oh yeah, psychics and mind reading.

"Uh sorry? ...Where's Mewtwo?"

She gestured to the water's general direction. "Thhhherrrre!" Her speech was strongly affected by purrs and rolling r's. And giggles. And happy, very cute and strange sounds in general.

Green resisted the urge to respond with "Ooooohkay!" and settled for a more mellow, "ok."

606. forbear: to be patient or avoid doing

She sensed his forbearance and holding back on making equally strange noises and giggled a bubbling, jingling laugh. He pursed his lips to avoid contracting the highly contagious laugh, and turned to scan the water for a certain grumpy psychic. Latias giggled again and he found it harder and harder to resist the urge to break out into a huge (stupid) smile.

607. elucidate: to make something clear; to clarify

Mewtwo was sitting by the side of the water, still frowning. He barely cast a glance in Green's direction when Green walked over and plopped a still warm egg tart next to him.

"Here."

"To elucidate what I already quite plainly stated earlier; I don't eat."

"Ok, take the heat then. A peace offering."

"You meant to offer me harm?"

Green face palmed. "Just- just do your thing and I'll eat it ok?"

608. credible: capable of being believed

Mewtwo stared at him as though his intentions weren't entirely credible. Was offering food such a strange thing in the natural world? Didn't pachirisu and emolga and other rodents do that all the time?

Sighing, Mewtwo reached over to pick up the egg tart, held it for a second, and then handed it back to Green. Green smirked as he took it, then almost dropped the thing in the water - the aluminum wrapping was horribly cold. He narrowly saved it from meeting an untimely death, and then hurriedly placed it back on the ground.

"What the heck man!"

Mewtwo deadpanned. Or more like pulled his typical poker face.

Green pulled up his sleeves so that he would have some freeze-burn protection while unwrapping the tart.

609. tamper: to interfere, especially in order to damage or weaken

Mewtwo watched the strange human eat the tiny thing. Why did they eat such purposeless, pointless things? Such small pastries could not possibly offer sufficient sustenance; it would be more effective to eat an actual egg than to eat something as tampered with and processed as _that_. And why was Latias laughing?

Latias giggled and talked to Mewtwo in pokemon-speak, keeping Green out of their conversation. "When you told me just earlier that you knew who I actually was and had seen through my disguise, you seemed so distrusting; but here you've opened up to a totally imperfect and typical human! Haha, you still really like humans, don't you?"

610. venerate: to look upon with respect

Mewtwo grumbled, and responded out loud with carefully enunciated human words. "Some humans are good. A few are bad. But most are in between. Green is in between. So am I. He is easy to be around."

Latias hummed and spoke out loud too. "H'aaam I good?"

"You are venerated as a hero in your country."

"Okhaaay, so will you tell me wherrrre my brother h'iiiiis?"

As Mewtwo paused, Green spoke up. "The stone's in the Pewter City museum - you've been pretty close to finding it but there's currently a psychic barrier around the museum so you probably can't locate it exactly right?"

Mewtwo glared at him, and Green stuck his tongue out in response.

Latias was elated. "Hnn! Yooou know wherre he iis?"

"Yep."

"Shoow me, pleease!"

Green smiled. "Sure. But you have to keep visiting grumpy cat here, because he'll be lonely if you leave him."

Mewtwo's face colored the slightest bit and his complexion turned into something vaguely resembling embarrassment. Green fist pumped (mentally, of course). Latias giggled and flew up happily.

"Yeees! Ofu courrse I caan come to vissit~"

"Ok, we can leave first thing in the morning, right now we should sleep because tomorrow'll be a long day."

Latias looked a little put out, but agreed, and flopped down beside the sleeping bag this time. Green crawled in, and slowly fell asleep with the purring of a very cute psychic dragon.


	62. Chapter 62

611. venue: the location where something takes place, especially a trial

His next awakening in Cerulean Cave was not nearly as pleasant as the previous time. Latias tickled him awake with a feather, and when he rolled over to check his dying phone, it was 4 AM. He groaned and rolled back and stared at the dark ceiling. The wild pokemon made a wide berth for Mewtwo, so the area was generally free of droppings or any other sign of pokemon life. Luminescent fungi glowed faintly, and their light reflected off the polished rock stalactites.

When he showed no more signs of wanting to get up, Latias tickled his nose - Green scrunched up his nose and sneezed, and the sound blasted and echoed in the cavern. Green suddenly felt extremely self-conscious... and awake. He sighed, and stretched out his sore limbs, grimacing as he heard a couple pops and cracks.

It was probably not even dawn outside; the only people awake would probably be farmer peoples or fishermen or shipyard peoples. Although Cerulean was close to the sea, the eastern ocean's rough waters made it difficult to navigate smaller vessels into the inlet. But the inlet would always be the venue for the unloading of the massive cargo ships from Sinnoh or even Unova.

612. oasis: a fertile place in a desert due to the presence of water; any place or thing offering relief from difficulty or dullness

Thinking of human activities outside provided a kind of oasis of human thoughts to anchor him down on earth - recently, or more like in the past sixteen or so hours, he'd fallen into a kind of lonely realm of meditation and thought. Staying with Mewtwo was alright, but not particularly interesting, as there was only so much one could do in a cave. It was beautiful and all, but Green was honestly really glad that he'd had such good timing and had gotten to meet up with Latias so soon. Well, time to go; he needed to take care of hygiene stuff. Oh, and check out a legendary stone.

613. evacuate: to remove the contents of; to discharge; to withdraw

Green rummaged through his box of pastries and picked them up one by one, wondering what in the world drove him to buy croissants with sweet potato filling or taro mochi bread. Though strange, they were still quite delicious, and Latias agreed as she arched her neck down and munched on a couple herself.

After breakfast, he prepared to evacuate the cavern, first by cleaning up crumbs and then carefully rearranging things in his backpack so he had room for the new magazines he'd bought yesterday. He nudged Latias (she was still squatting on a corner of his sleeping bag, but she refused to move. Green frowned, and Latias looked at him before quietly gesturing to her other side - the side facing away from Green.

614. parody: a humorous and ridiculous imitation

Mewtwo was sleeping, leaning against Latias' other side. There was something incredibly odd and touching about how peaceful and content he looked in sleep, lacking the frown and poker face he had in consciousness. It was like some kind of legendary parody of a newborn pidgey nuzzling with its mother.

Green smiled, and Latias grinned. She then carefully lifted herself up just barely off the ground, and Green pulled out the sleeping bag from underneath her the second before she gently plopped back down. Smooth.

615. ossified: changed to bone; hardened, often figurative

Rolling up the poofy thing so that it would fit back in its wrapping was tough - after struggling to compress the sleeping bag into a thin roll, Green sat on it and rubbed a sore shoulder muscle. In sleeping on the hard rock, his muscles had stiffened and ossified, and any use of his upper back was accompanied by aches and groans.

616. recondite: not easily understood

A couple minutes later, when Latias shifted a little, Mewtwo slowly blinked awake, and seemed awfully surprised to wake up leaning against Latias. Although the situation was honestly pretty obvious, Mewtwo seemed to find it particularly recondite and demanded how he'd end up sleeping there.

"H-how did I end up there? Did you move me?"

"Yeeeeep! You looked co-o-old, so I made you warrrm~"

Green stared closely at Mewtwo. Was that... a blush?

617. malignant: very harmful; threatening death; cancerous (of a tumor)

When Mewtwo turned from Latias to Green, his glare was malignant. Green curiously felt no fear, but a little amusement in thinking, Mewtwo's definitely a tsundere. That thought earned Green an even more malicious glare.

Green sighed. "Well, I guess Latias and I will be going to the museum to check on the stone."

618. prescribe: to set down as a rule

Mewtwo's stare softened for a moment, before resuming their typical intensity. "Before you two leave, I want to propose some rules prescribing how often we meet." Green deadpanned. So now Mewtwo was laying down rules to make sure they'd visit? How lonely was he?

"Uh, ok I guess?" Latias nodded in tandem with Green.

"May either of you come along every couple months? Latias visits a lot in the summer, but Green, would you mind dropping by in the winter?"

"Sure? You should come out too - you love people right, but you're scared of hurting them? You could make ice shows for Arceus' sake; people'd love to see you."

619. sordid: extremely dirty; morally corrupt

"...Someone as sordid as I should not plague your society."

Latias cut in. "Not trrrue! You haave verrry good contrrol! Betterr than me - and I do not hurrrt people, rright?" Green nodded.

Mewtwo looked between the two, before giving in. "I-I thank you both very much. I will treasure my time outside."

620. abash: to embarrass

Mewtwo's surprisingly pure desires and thought were almost fluffy enough to make Green feel abashed by listening to the conversation. Green smiled again at Mewtwo's simple demands, and stood up and prepared to leave. Latias puffed and levitated, and the two waved to Mewtwo as they left the cavern.

When Green reached the final yards of the cave, he gasped at the glorious sight of light from the recent sunrise streaming into the cave. He ran outside and was temporarily blinded and very much so shocked by the brightness and noisiness as opposed to the mellow sights and sounds in the cave. The earthly world was truly such a beautiful place - what could anybody want on such a beautiful sunrise? The sun was a perfect silver disk hiding behind gossamer clouds along the horizon. All signs of a beautiful day... to spend arguing or trying to convince rock fanatics.


	63. Chapter 63

sorry for slow and crappy updates...

i got hooked on pokemon showdown and its like drugs

the tab is open right now and it calls for me TT-TT

japan has amazing (weird) ice cream

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621. efficacy: the power to produce the desired effect

The beautiful sunrise and silvery clouds did not make up for the chilling breeze of the early morning - Green's fingers were quickly becoming numb, and he was having trouble getting out Pidgeot. Even on Mt. Silver his case of numb hands usually wasn't that bad, since he usually dressed up a little more to prepare for it. He set aside the pokeball and rubbed his hands for a moment to warm them, although the efficacy of the rubbing was dubious.

Latias eventually became impatient with Green's fidgeting and failure to get in the air, so she poked his head. "I'll carrry you, ohkie?"

622. misapprehension: a misunderstanding

Green looked up in surprise, and then agreed and waited for her to lower a wing so he could climb on. However, it appeared he was under some misapprehension that he would be riding on her back - she wrapped him in a translucent pink bubble of psychic energy, flexed her wings, and then rocketed off west to Pewter.

623. benign: kindly; creating a favorable influence; (in medicine) not dangerous to one's health

Green would have screamed. In fact, he did scream, but apparently the bubble was soundproof, as Latias didn't seem to notice. In just a minute, they were already close to Mt. Moon, and then Green began to realize how fast and comfortable the flying was if one could ignore the fact that the bubble was almost transparent and Latias was several hundred feet off the ground.

Latias' face was happy and confident and benign, which also helped him slowly overcome the terror of zipping along through the clouds and passing startled pidgeys. She flew marvelously, and although it was certainly jet-speed, her speed hardly fluctuated, making the ride incredibly smooth. It was a whole different ball-game compared to flying on Pidgeot - although there was a certain warmth and comfort on flying on a huge, breathing bird, being transported in a clear bubble at hundreds of miles per hour was definitely exhilarating in its own way.

624. baleful: harmful or threatening harm or evil

They made a wide turn around Mt. Moon, and soon enough, Pewter drew into view. Latias smoothly decelerated, dropping in altitude until she was just above the treetops. A spearow gave him a baleful (and very confused) glare as Green's bubble bulldozed through the top of a particularly tall tree - he winced as the branches broke off to splinters around him. There was hardly any impact despite the fairly high speed collision, and Latias just giggled when he looked up accusingly.

Latias dropped down in the alleys of the buildings further from the main roads running through the city. Once Latias landed, Green's bubble popped, and his legs were shaky - he had a hard time standing up. By the time he got his legs to cooperate, Latias was pulling at his sleeve and eager to go - she had transformed back into her human form to avoid stares or suspicious glances.

625. credit: to believe; to trust

The main roads were still fairly empty, as it was only five thirty in the morning. No buildings were open yet - and of course, the museum was still closed for another three and a half hours. Latias stared at the museum, apparently sizing up the barrier, before dragging him up the staircase and peering in the shaded glass doors. A janitor was working inside, but other than that, the place was deserted.

Green was tempted to just fly on back home, brush his teeth and get himself cleaned up, and then come back later. However, Latias had other ideas, and after staring, disappointed with the locked doors, dragged him downtown to the bakeries, which were surprisingly already open.

Latias had weird tastes - even weirder than Leaf's. Green had been able to stand Leaf giving him buko pie from Hoenn (a kind of coconut cream pie) and bundevara (studel-like pumpkin pastry) from some distant region near Kalos. But Latias was picking up coulibiac (some kind of fish pie) and other obscure pastries from the baker, who looked ecstatic that someone was willing to try his odd inventions. Green was suspicious of the low price on the tag and was unwilling to credit the baker's promises of them being the most delicious things in the store, but went ahead and bought them anyway.

626. fluster: to make nervous or upset

They went from store to store buying more and more sweets and pastries, and Green lamented the onset of diabetes and the fate of the meat pie in his refrigerator. He ended up running around with both hands full of bags and boxes emanating redolent, rich smells.

Three whole hours of crazy food shopping later, Green collapsed onto a bench, and Latias sat beside him, happily eating a cone of _octillery_ ice cream while he half-heartedly ate his cactus flavored ice cream. And when Latias offered to trade, he was not so much flustered by the potential romantic meaning (well, Mewtwo probably told Latias that he was gay or Latias figured it out herself) as he was flustered by the horror of eating octillery flavored ice cream.

627. stymie: to obstruct; to stump

He tentatively bit off a tiny piece of her ice cream, grimaced and immediately traded back. She tilted her head, as if confused how anybody could _possibly _dislike octillery ice cream. Cactus was perfectly fine, thank you very much.

His attempts to stand up again were stymied by his sore arms refusing to hold the bags. The bags, combined with a backpack full of magazines and a rolled up sleeping bag, were a bit too much. Latias looked at him curiously (she hardly spoke, but giggled and purred and bubbled and made funny noises all the time) before realizing what was going on. She closed her eyes and put her hands together, and a dull pink light shone before it rapidly expanded into a bubble encasing the two of them.

She opened her eyes to grab the plastic bags of food, and seeing Green's confusion, she explained. "I am teleporrting these to your living place, don't want people to see! So I make bahrrrier and outside it looks like we arre frrozen, so I must be quick!"

628. supersede: to replace

She then closed her eyes again and another pink bubble appeared from her hands and expanded and encased the bags, which began to levitate. Then, the whole thing flashed and was superseded by air. Latias kept her eyes closed for another second, before opening them and smiling sheepishly.

"Grreeen, I think I brroke your window, sorrry..."

629. quell: to ease; to calm down

Curiously, Green felt no anger he needed to quell - instead, he started laughing. Latias looked up and furrowed her eyebrows.

"It's ok, I'll get it replaced when I get back. I just- it reminded me of this one time Red tried tossing me a pokeball. He was outside and I was inside studying, and then he tried to toss me a pokeball he'd found while playing outside - it was supposed to something to bribe me to sneak out and play. Well, I was on the second floor, and I told him to buzz off 'cause I had a placement exam the next day, but he got mad and threw it at my window. It cracked, and the next day Daisy found out and we both got yelled at so bad! I don't even know why she was so pissed at me! But your face just now, it...it reminded me of Red."

630. ambivalence: simultaneous existence of opposing feelings; uncertainty as to what to do

Latias stared at him. She dispelled the barrier and spoke softly. "Don't you misss him?" A series of unspoken questions followed. Don't you feel lost, ambivalent, left behind? Don't you find yourself wanting somebody, anybody? How can you just...

Green rubbed his head. "Yeah. I do. But we won't forget each other with a little bit of distance or time. I think we're better than that."

Latias blinked. Then she smiled fondly and ruffled Green's hair.


	64. Chapter 64

Who hates accents I do too well at least most of the time

(hypocrite?!)

im sorry I just hear latias' voice as like bubbles and giggles and purrs and cute sounds and it feels weird sometimes so I have to make her bubble when she tries to talk out loud

* * *

631. timorous: full of fear

Green stretched his relieved arms and gestured to her to start walking to the museum. She quickly fell into step with them, and they quickly passed by now familiar streets. Latias seemed subdued.

She was jealous. She, like nearly all legendary pokemon, lived on and on indefinitely without dying. Instead of dying of injury or starvation, they hibernated and slept when their bodies crumbled, and then waited for centuries for power to recollect and to reform. They never ended, but their connections with the normal humans and pokemon were so ephemeral; if you didn't travel enough, you'd find that the world had changed drastically while you weren't looking. They lived on and on while others passed – and their own kind would go into long periods of sleeping. And for Latias, without Latios, she was alone. She'd have to wait, wait, and wait for her brother to return.

Most of the other legendaries gave up on company and retreated into solitude, or preferred to simply stay in sleep until chaos arose and humans dared to call for them. Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza – they all stayed in their respective areas of solitude, quietly passing the centuries, avoiding humans and building up literal and metaphorical walls around their hearts. It was ironic to think such great creatures became timorous in the face of making connections with humans. But then again, connections with humans were destined to be broken. And each broken connection was another crack in their scarred hearts.

632. impecunious: having no money; poor; penniless

While Latias was musing her concerns of eternity, Green was wondering very human things – like how long it'd take before he'd become impecunious. He had pressing demands for a job as he was rapidly draining his savings. The sooner he could laugh in Steven's face, the better.

633. adamant: stubbornly unyielding; impervious to pleas, appeals, or reason

When they passed the barrier and arrived in the museum, Latias immediately perked up and started speed walking, almost running, in the direction of the closed off area. Green ran after her, and found her with a security guard, who was struggling to hold her back from running right into the taped off area.

Green tried thinking up excuses, but his normally eloquent words would just not form. He could not persuade the adamant guard, and eventually settled on calling Brock (Lance forced everybody to trade numbers in case of national emergency).

634. melee: a noisy, confused fight

Brock came hurrying over, (Green had exaggerated somewhat and made it sound like his companion was currently engaging in a melee of sorts with the guard) and deadpanned when he saw a perfectly peaceful scene. Green pulled him aside, out of earshot of the guard.

"Brock, that stone you have back there is a living creature. Well, a soul. And _she_," he gestured to Latias, "wants it back."

Brock raised an eyebrow. "Hold on. First of all, how do you even know there's anything back there?"

635. euphemism: the substitution of an agreeable word or phrase to replace one that might offend

"Ok, well, I was traveling with Red's espeon a couple weeks back, when I was jumping around from city to city, collecting signatures, remember? I swear I didn't intentionally do anything, but she apparently snuck in and recognized that there was some massive psychic energy in the stone you've got. I put my clues together, and that, my friend, is Latios. Well, it contains the remnants of his soul, after his body, you know, kind of disintegrated from mass psychic energy release."

Brock stared. "You could have used a euphemism to make that sound a bit nicer. And, what in the world did you do to figure that out? I don't even know myself what exactly it is. And what does the girl have to do with it?

Green laughed. "_Everything_. She's Latias."

636. rouse: to wake or provoke

Brock ushered them over to his roomy office. Once the door was locked and the blinds drawn, he turned to Latias. "Um, can you, uh, transform?"

Latias did so. Brock's eyes almost shot wide open, and he was gaping. (Green was surprised that even with something that could rouse so much interest, Brock's eyes were still so narrow. But that was beside the point.) Latias used telepathic abilities to talk directly into their heads – with direct communication, her funny inflections disappeared.

"Ah, so there are many conflicting human legends, since they always see my brother and I flying around, sometimes together, sometimes alone. I believe Cresselia brainwashed some people and left some written records about Arceus founding the world, so that humans would stop coming up with funny stories about us." She broke off and giggled a little. "Well, Arceus made several groups of legendaries to watch over and maintain harmony in highly populated regions – and he made us in separate groups, so although we all are essentially siblings, some of us are closer to each other than others."

637. mettle: courage; strength of character

"We are eternal. Such a curse is a harsh test of our spirits and mettle, but we strive to seek peace – it is not always easy, and the more powerful brothers sometimes fight. But my brother and I have always loved each other. We are very close." She sighed wistfully. "We do not hide away from humans, like most of our siblings; we try to connect, although it hurts many times. He used a massive amount of his life force to save a human city. I have been searching for his soul stone to nurse it with energy, but it has been hidden in this barrier for very long."

638. unremitting: constant; not stopping

Green had built up an image of Brock being a kind of stolid, brusque kind of guy, so when he started pouring out unremitting tears, Green was aghast. He was unsure whether to take a picture for blackmail or to comfort him; but either way it was so oddly out of character that he was flabbergasted. Green himself was feeling a little teary eyed, but not close to pouring out tears (last time he cried was when Red- ugh, embarrassing!).

639. ornery: mean-spirited and contrary in attitude

Whatever ornery image Brock had first portrayed as the tough security boss, he'd left it in the dust and eagerly showed human-Latias into the safe-room. The stone was locked away in a drawer in a room full of cupboards of fragile or rare pieces too important to be put onto open display. Latias immediately pointed to one drawer, and Brock fumbled with a massive ring of keys.

640. curriculum: all the courses of study offered by an educational institution

It seemed like full minutes passed before Brock finally found the corresponding key, although it probably only took half a minute maximum. When the drawer opened, Latias began crying wordlessly. She picked it up, and cradled the stone, a brilliant blue orb encased in lumpy black shell of rock.

Green then understood why no school curriculum included psychological studies of pokemon – the emotions and love involved was far beyond what textbooks could portray; it could not possibly be put into objective terms. He'd criticized the lack of material available in school libraries; he'd had to rummage through his grandfather's filed away studies, mailed to him from psychologists who tried to make a living off an unpopular business. And even then, he could not truly understand what the studies showed. There was no general result about the emotional thoughts of pokemon.

You could not generalize all psychics as cold, heartless, scheming creatures. There was no logic in trying to classify their emotions. Not when you talked about creatures that lived forever, trying to love despite the pain that came with each connection.


	65. Chapter 65

flea spray stinks ugh

well i have a ton of bites so i guess it's worth it if it stops the bites :0

here's a lighter chapter with Green being seventeen and not a nerd

* * *

641. oscillate: to move back and forth regularly

Green put an arm around a quietly sobbing Latias, and Brock led them to the back exit. Green called out Pidgeot, who easily swept them up, and they flew to Viridian.

They soared above Viridian Forest, and Latias eventually fell asleep, still tightly holding onto the stone. The sunlight was warm, the breeze soft, and the bird calls quiet. Pidgeot flew and landed outside his apartment in silence, and Green slipped off of the bird, and carried Latias in. She was really light – no more than ninety pounds – and as he laid her down on the couch, the whole building was silent. It was as if the world was watching with bated breath, watching the legendary in shock, hardly believing that she could be so overwhelmingly sad behind her happy, bubbly smiles.

The only sounds came from the pendulum oscillating in the tiny, antique grandfather clock Green had in the corner of the living room. With each second, another tick. Even with the front door wide open, there was no sound except for the humming of a warm breeze.

642. replete: well-filled; abundantly supplied

Green walked over to the kitchen, and true enough, the window was smashed in, and the bags sat innocently on the tile floor. He carefully swept up glass shards, and reveled in the strange pleasantness of having a wide open window, a kind of freedom.

After carefully picking up shards, he went on stocking the refrigerator with all the new, strange loaves. The way Latias had acted when she was shopping, he'd have never thought her to be thousands of years old. After the fridge was replete, he took out the meat pie (had it really only been two days?) and sliced a piece.

643. synopsis: a short summary that outlines the main points of something

It was only about eleven when he finished eating. He felt as though he'd lived through an entire week in that morning – a wave of exhaustion flooded his body, and he brushed his teeth, showered, and flopped into bed.

When he woke up, the digital alarm clock was flashing 5:00 PM. The shadows were growing long, and Green didn't have much he wanted or needed to do, since he'd had so many lucky streaks in the last couple days. He reached over and dug out a magazine from his backpack, and read through the elaborately arranged table of contents, skimming through the synopses of the articles.

644. surmount: to overcome; to climb to the top of

Most of the information was already old for him; since he was always on top of news in the science community, it was rare that something big popped up in magazines without his having seen it before.

Green shut the magazine and ran a hand through his slightly damp hair. It hadn't dried properly, pressed against his pillow. He surmounted his lethargy and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat.

645. assent: formal agreement; to agree formally

Latias was calmly eating a huge slice of the meat pie – she looked up at him and smiled. He walked over and got himself a plate and a fork and joined in.

"It's good, right?" Green mumbled through a mouthful.

"Mhm!" She heartily hummed her assent.

"Well, I didn't make it."

"Oh."

Green took slight offense, as Latias did not seem at all surprised. What, was his cooking renowned to be bad or something? "Can I ask you for a favor?"

646. discord: conflict or disagreement

"Yes?"

"Uh, do you know someone called Steven? Gray hair? Ok, kind of blue hair, and always wears nice clothing and suits and vests?"

"…mm…Yes! Yes, I know him, what about him?

"Ok, so he's been trying to look for Latios, and I want to tell him that we found him already, ok? So can you come with me to Hoenn?" Green was just excluding the whole discord and cheating with Espeon thing... nothing big. Well, if Latias wanted to know the whole thing, she'd just have to try and take a peek and ta-da, his secret intentions would be revealed.

647. conclusive: serving to settle a matter or put an end to doubt

"Ok! I don't rreally need to go anywherre now, just need time to rrest and share enerrgy!" She winked slyly at Green. "Yes, Steven needs to rrelax a little – he has few close frriends, spends too much time alone. He is smart, you arre too, you two should end the fight and get along."

Green scratched his head. "Mm- well, I'm ok with making amends, I don't know if he is. Well, I'm going out to run with Umbreon and plan a trip to Hoenn then." Evidence that he'd found Latios couldn't get much more conclusive than Latias verifying his claims.

648. endearment: an act of expressing affection; fondness

The sun was not quite at the horizon yet; in fact, it'd probably be at least another two hours before sunset. When Green released Umbreon, she was still a little sluggish, so he ran to Route 1, released Arcanine, and then jogged with the gigantic canine along the familiar route. Rattatas and butterfree looked bewildered as they jogged by, and Green called out to them with sarcastic endearments. He could vaguely remember the days he'd been terrified of entering Route 1 (he and Red would stand tentatively at the border between Pallet Town and the route, staring longingly) – now, it was hard to believe he'd been afraid of the place.

649. impotent: powerless; helpless; ineffective

A couple of indignant pokemon attacked him as he crashed through the tall grass, but upon seeing Arcanine, they cowered and ran away, their scratches and growls impotent. Green crashed on halfway to Pallet before turning back – he was starting to tire, and he'd probably run a good two miles by then.

On the way back, Arcanine goaded and prodded him into running, and Green ended up skipping and screaming like a wild man as he sprinted through the clearings, racing Arcanine (who easily overtook him, and then slowed to keep Green's ego intact). Luckily, the route was empty, as few trainers stayed on Route 1 longer than necessary, so it generally emptied out by late afternoon. By the time they got back into the outskirts of Viridian, his legs were burning, and he was in dire need of another shower.

650. stature: height of a person or animal in an upright position; level of achievement

Green drew himself up to his full stature to help himself push away the mildly (extremely) embarrassing thoughts of sprinting through tall grass screaming. He walked back to his apartment with Machamp (Exeggutor and Tyranitar were both over six foot tall and humongous – they walked pretty slowly too), who was happy to be out of his pokeball. They took the quieter, suburban route home, and played around, trying weird things too – Green ended up standing precariously on Machamp's shoulders as the pokemon walked, fulfilling a bucket-list whim of trying out something to do with the circus.


	66. Chapter 66

Some people write that Green gets a lot if challengers and loses a bit, but that means that quite a few people must be elite four level or better to beat him, which also means the current elite four should be made up of random peops (which it isnt)

So to me he's nigh on invincible

Except when it comes to Red hehe

* * *

651. zephyr: a gentle, soft breeze

Latias spent most of the following days sleeping, the stone in her arms. Green had moved the sofas around to make more space so that she didn't have to waste energy transforming into her human form. The whole living room had transformed into a kind of nest, and every couple hours Green would plop a dish of food near her, and it'd disappear by the next time he'd walk around.

Green had originally planned on having Latias transport them to Hoenn by Latias-rocket, but she was so quiet and immobile he decided against it. He booked two tickets with a cargo ship to Hoenn (he was trying to save up a little). The ship was planned to depart from Vermilion in around two weeks, so until then, he'd just have to sit around and fill out application papers. After the previous hectic days, the days now dragged on slowly, quietly, and sleepily. All day, when Green kept his bedroom door open, the zephyr blowing in the broken kitchen window would carry sounds of Latias snoozing and breathing deeply.

652. conflagration: large, disastrous fire

A couple curious neighbors came to check on him, explaining that they had heard the smashing glass and had assumed some conflagration of sorts was going on. He ended up having to apologize to the landlady, who scolded him briefly before handing him a basket of grapes and leaving. Apparently, they had some festivals for fruit picking coming up in the next couple months, and it was supposed to be a bribe for him to come.

653. retort: to reply, especially in a quick or witty matter

He hung up a towel to cover the window per the landlady's instructions, and proceeded to spend the days writing up essays.

Several days passed in relative monotony, and when Saturday rolled around, Green mused about going up the mountain. He'd promised to come up once every two weeks (to give Red space), but his conscience retorted that Red could go ahead and stand Green for another day.

654. rebuff: to refuse someone; to reject an offer

In the afternoon, while he looked over the newspaper over a late lunch, the battle page was covered with Gold. The little idiot had been so impatient as to ditch his job at the ranch and take the train to Johto to challenge Janine. She'd rebuffed him, but he'd been so persistent that she ended up accepting the challenge. So now, he was the only trainer with 7 Kanto badges, making headlines and now traveling to Viridian.

655. ludicrous: ridiculous or exaggerated as to cause or deserve laughter; absurd

Green prayed that Arceus would call for something ludicrous like train construction. He needed at least enough time so he could postpone a battle with Gold to after he got back from Hoenn. He hadn't had time to train or work with his pokemon in an actual battle in a long time - challengers, heck, even the other gym leaders weren't really a tough match up.

Of course, something as opportune as that would never happen - he checked the Magnet Train departure times, and everything was functioning properly. Which meant Gold could be in Viridian the next day, or even that night. And if Green was lucky, Gold would wait for Monday. After all the luck with Mewtwo and Latias and Brock, it _had_ to run out then...

656. voluminous: having great size or fullness

Green heated up some pastries for Latias and tiptoed through the voluminous blankets scattered on the carpet to place the plate on the coffee table which had now been shifted to the corner of the room. She sleepily opened an eye and hummed and fell back asleep.

Green stepped outside into hot afternoon sunlight, and he grimaced as the hot rays of light hit his uncovered arms. He held up an arm to shield his eyes from the light, and walked to the gym.

657. orthography: proper spelling

Even though it had only been a few days, it seemed so long ago that he had last walked the road to the gym. Everything was the same - everything, from the couples eating outside to the variations of orthography and trying-too-hard old shops with new signs reading, "Rockin' Ramen," "Pho-ntastic," and "Chow-it-Mein" among other cringe-worthy nameplates. Although Green had been running with Umbreon in the evenings, he'd been off exploring the still unfamiliar suburbs and had avoided the main streets, so it really was the first time he'd seen the gym in quite a while.

658. facetious: playfully humorous

He unlocked the doors, and was a little disappointed to find everything still in the exact same condition he'd left the gym. Well, it wasn't bad, but there was some subconscious longing for trouble and excitement. Green let out his team, and told them all to get ready for mock-battles. Gyarados wasn't too excited (well, all Gyarados could function and live on land but moving was a pain in the... gills... Even snow was better for movement), but the rest of the team eagerly began blasting off moves and warming up.

Green watched for a couple minutes, before unlocking his office door to retrieve some earmuffs (Tyranitar and Machamp were going all out in a hopefully friendly yelling match; pent up needs to roar and destroy something?). His phone buzzed in his pocket.

"'sup Green! It's Gold!"

"Hey."

"So I beat Janine! I'm in Viridian right now, can I sleep over? The Pokecenter's rooms are all full."

Green face palmed. Hard. It was more like a self-slap. Gold was already here. And being an idiot. "Uhm. Are you being a facetious little ass or are you seriously asking me if you can sleep with me?"

659. mordant: bitingly sarcastic

"Duuuuude! That makes it sound totally wrong! Ok, we're both gay, but heck no I'm more like only after Silver. I'm like, not homosexual, but more like Silver-sexual; like Sil-sexual, ya know? ...Ok, yeah, I need a place to stay for the weekend."

Green resisted the urge to make a mordant comment - Gold was a creeper, but a smart creeper, and would probably know how to hit him where it hurt. "Uh, I currently have a friend staying in the living room but if you're ok with the couch, I guess go ahead? People kind of just drop in my place whenever they feel like it anyway..."

660. permeate: to spread or flow throughout

"Cool! I though I'd have to go to Pallet and sneak in the lab - you know, your grandpa kicked me out after he caught me trying to teach the chatots how babies are made. My grandparents are breeders, right? Haha, well, I did make it a little bit too intense..."

Green pinched the bridge of his nose. "...Ok then. When are you coming over?"

"Now?"

"...No."

"Uh... after dinner, so like, eight? Unless you can cook. Can you cook?"

"...Yes? Kind of?"

"Dude, Silver is like, the _bomb_ at cooking! I challenged, well, seduced him into a thing for Valentine's Day, and he made the _best_ chocolate cake ever!"

Gold's soppy romanticism was a little... overwhelming. Green could sense the lovey-dovey hearts Gold probably would be spewing out of his eyeballs, and almost see them permeating through the phone. He was glad that he'd disabled video calls for all people except for Red. Gold's intensity was kind of intense. It was a little weird too - him and Silver, of all people? Silver'd probably whack Gold into next year for confessing his love and advertising their relationship.


	67. Chapter 67

this chapter's a bit shorter, chapters have been a little long recently and im getting lazy ahaha...

* * *

661. intrepid: bold; fearless

Green cut off the call with a choked "See you later" when Gold dove into another story of an intrepid sexual advance on Silver that had been cruelly rejected.

When he walked back into the gym, the pokemon all swiveled their heads to stare at him expectantly. Training was serious business – Green dashed all disgustingly bubbly thoughts and ran through the old training plans. First up would be accuracy and control, the two most important parts of safe training.

662. erode: to wear away slowly

Although years had passed since Green had trainer seriously, neither his nor his pokemon's memories of practice and training had eroded – everything was in the same old routine. Green noticed that Red had done wonders with all of their accuracy: nearly every single one of Machamp's stone-edge attacks landed on Exeggutor's floating dummies. Not a single move was wasted, and although his pokemon seemed slower, perhaps from age, their attacks had exact precision.

663. wield: to handle; to exert

Of all of the pokemon, Umbreon was probably having the most difficulties wielding her power. Although relentless practice as an Eevee had helped her quickly master moves after her evolution, she was far behind the others in terms of firepower. When Green called for a break, she continued blowing up bigger and bigger shadow balls. Although it was outside her natural type, she preferred the move over the typical dark moves like taunt, punishment, pursuit, fake tears, and many others.

664. stationery: writing paper and envelopes

Green went to the office to grab some stationery for notes before starting up offense and defense training. His pokemon were mostly on the slower side, so he'd trained them to have high resistance – none, except for Arcanine, were fast enough to perform dodges. Although Exeggutor was usually able to mix up challengers with his trick room, it didn't always work out – backup plans were a must.

665. sacrilege: the intentional desecration or disrespectful treatment of something sacred

Between Exeggutor, Tyranitar, Gyarados, Arcanine, Pidgeot, Machamp, an Umbreon, it soon became clear that taking out Umbreon would be the best choice – he'd noticed after a while that she was hiding a limp, and she was getting on in her age – Eevee didn't have extremely long lifespans, and she was already a middle aged Eeveelution, not fit for strenuous battles.

After Raticate's death, overworking pokemon had become the most horrific and despised sacrilege, and Green was not about to give in to Umbreon's dolly eyes and let her battle. He massaged her sore leg, and would not let her participate in the rest of training.

666. demographics: the distribution of human population groups

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly, accompanied by loud explosions and collisions followed by varying kinds of human and pokemon laughter. After cooling down, they'd had a meditation session of sorts, which kind of turned into a staring contest (Green lost – of all the pokemon, Gyarados won). Umbreon joined in - after she had gotten over sulking, she watched the rest of training without complaint.

After recalling all his pokemon for the day, except for Umbreon, and locking up, Green made the unpleasant journey home. Gold was probably already there, and there was bound to be an abundance of questions about Latias.

Although reports on Viridian's populations showed that its demographic was fairly evenly distributed with people of all ages and genders, Green often was under the impression that the city was home to the largest population of gossiping old ladies in the region.

667. histrionic: overly dramatic, theatrical

A couple of them were being histrionic and gasping and fluttering over Gold, who was sleeping against his apartment door. According to snippets of their conversation, Gold was a homeless wanderer who had just been dumped by a girl and was now waiting outside his beloved's door. The kid was sprawled out on his doorstep, completely comfortable, and snoring (drooling too!). Green honestly could not fathom how some people thought that was attractive, but apparently the old ladies thought Gold was hot stuff. Better Gold than him.

668. waft: to float; to drift through

Green rolled his eyes when one of the ladies sobbed, and heaved up the scrawny kid and walked in his apartment and to a sofa pushed to the side of the room. He unceremoniously dumped Gold on the cushions, but the boy didn't wake up.

For dinner, Green prepared pasta and the last slices of the meat pie. The huge thing had gradually been consumed, and that dinner would most likely be the last time he'd be eating it. As the smell of pasta wafted through the apartment, both Latias and Gold woke up.

669. staccato: composed of abrupt, disconnected part or sounds

If Latias was the legato and smooth passage of time and eternity, Gold was the epitome of staccato thoughts and ideas, bouncing and talking at a hundred miles a minute. At first he'd been surprised to see Latias: a very normal reaction. But then, he'd been a little suspicious that a girl was living with Green, but later on, they'd apparently gotten to best friends status (although he really just jabbered her to sleep).

670. amass: to accumulate, collect, store up

Although Green had amassed quite the fortune, it had recently been slipping through his hands, and he was eager to save. So he denied Gold the right to order pizza (apparently, the voracious little guy was still hungry). The evening passed quietly after Gold quit trying to break into Green's Internet, and simply passed out on the couch.

That night, as Green double-checked on Latias before going to sleep, he wondered why such an airhead could be so strong. Gold was again snoring and drooling, and albeit quieter, even in his sleep he was still radiating air-headed-ness and boldness. Gold was never afraid to say what he thought – a blessing and a curse.


	68. Chapter 68

671. supine: lying on the back

Green woke up fairly early on Sunday, and the clouds outside were still obscuring the sun, making for an unusually gloomy summer morning. He lay supine on his bed, savoring the warmth of his blankets before reluctantly easing out of them to walk into the bathroom.

The tile floor froze his feet, and he berated himself for not having bought a mat for his bathroom. He brushed his teeth slowly, having a kind of vague feeling that he was forgetting something important.

672. impunity: exemption from punishment or harm

He realized what he'd forgotten after shuffling to the kitchen to see Gold sprawled out on the floor and Latias curled up in the corner of the room. Sighing, he started mixing up waffle batter. Even though Green himself had a pretty messed up sleep schedule, he didn't understand how Latias could go all day just eating and sleeping. Even Gold woke up for no less than two hours to talk and then fall back asleep. Well, Gold wasn't going to get any impunity in his apartment; he'd have to work for his food. Gold hadn't reached best buddy status quite yet.

673. gratify: to please; to satisfy

Again, it seemed his freeloaders lived by their senses of smell; once the waffles were in the waffle maker and the air was filled with a delicious waffle aroma, it was like their alarm clock had finally rung. Gold groaned before rubbing his eyes and some drool from his mouth and unsteadily standing up.

"Greeeen~ are those waffles? I love waffles~"

Green plopped another perfectly golden waffle onto a plate. "Though somehow I land a ton of freeloaders, you won't get by with flattery and trying to gratify me with crappy stories. You're washing dishes if you want food. And if you don't wash them, I'm kicking you out."

674. topography: the surface features of a place, region or object

Gold agreed quite easily. "Anything for those waffles, man, those smell good." Latias stirred in her bundle of blankets and hummed her agreement.

The neat topography of his living room had transformed into foreign terrain of skewed sofas and blankets strewn across the carpet, and Green wasn't quite sure what to make of it as he walked over to Latias and plopped a plate of waffles down. He scooped up several plates from the previous day and put them in the sink. It was a wonder he hadn't had an insect problem yet with all the food everywhere.

675. obviate: to stop from occurring; to prevent or make unnecessary

Although Green's kitchen table was fairly new and clean, it was designed to seat six people, so he usually retired into his bedroom to work and eat. However, Gold obviated his habit and Green pulled out a chair at the table for the first time in a while. Gold's brain was not fully awake yet, and Green snapped a photo of Gold dozing off into his waffles. He then carefully moved his glass of milk so that if Gold did end up literally nose-diving into his plate, he wouldn't knock over anything and make a mess.

676. faction: a group within a larger group, usually one that produces dissent

Gold's chin slipped off the hand it was propped up on, so Gold actually did end up hitting his head on the table (he missed the waffles, sadly). He swore, and rubbed the spot while laughing at himself and becoming a whole lot more awake.

Although extremely chatty, Gold was fairly easy to be around – besides the occasional provocative comment, he stayed surprisingly obedient. Green half expected some faction in the complex of Gold's brain would eventually rebel and decide to bring up the belligerent idiot attitude, but Gold remained peaceful. Green was impressed, and helped a little with dishes, pointing out where the soap was, how roughly everything should be washed before being put into the dishwasher for an even cleaner result, and where the cupboards for plates and forks and cups were.

677. mercantile: relating to business

After watching Gold for a while and approving of the cleaning, Green rinsed off his hands and prepared to leave. Gold noticed and hurriedly shut off the running faucet.

"Yo Green! You don't take battles on Sundays, right?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'm going to explore Viridian during the afternoon, so I'll be back maybe after dinner time –if I find a good place. I'll bring back take-out if it's really good. I'll text you."

"You have my number? Ah, screw it, everybody somehow has my number. Ok, see you later."

"K bye!"

Green turned around and walked down the dim hallways to his bedroom to check on mercantile emails, and to prepare for going to the gym for training. Gold resumed rinsing dishes and clinging and clanging fork together.

678. lurch: to sway or tip abruptly to one side; to stagger

Nothing of interest or value popped up in his inbox, so he spent a little time downloading (blackmail) photos from his phone. After that was done, he stood up, lurched as the blood rushed to his head, and fell onto his bed. Ah, that hadn't happened in a while. A healthier diet needed to appear in his future.

He lay on his face seeing stars as his vision slowly cleared, and then gradually stood up to change out of his sleeping shirt and shorts (ancient athletic wear from school days in which physical education was mandatory) and into more presentable clothing. He ran a hand through his hair to make his bed-head look a little less hectic, and then strapped on his belt of pokeballs and prepared to head out.

679. repertoire: the range of pieces an artist is prepared to perform

Gold was humming his repertoire of crappy pop songs when Green opened the front door. He energetically waved to Green when the brunette twisted the doorknob and stepped out, scattering soap bubbles. Green sighed and closed the door.

He briskly walked to the gym, pondering just how nice it would be to have Red in his apartment instead of a ton of random people. Gold was a nice, weird, absurdly strong kid who was already smitten, and Latias was a legendary pokemon with a mild brother complex. Neither was really relationship material, but somehow it felt weird to let so many people in his apartment. Well, it did make things a whole lot less lonely, even though Latias tended to snooze the day away.

680. permutation: a thorough change in form; the act of changing a given set of elements in a group

Training followed the same rhythm, with Umbreon actively participating as a trainer instead of a trainee. Although most of the team had been able to counter her attacks as an Eevee, they each had difficulties landing hits due to the drastic skill rise after her permutation.

Umbreon harassed all of the team with surprise attacks during the evasion practice. Evasion practice was several rounds of extreme games of tag, and it turned amazing chaotic when pokemon were competing for treats (last pokemon "it" after five minutes didn't get a treat). Umbreon snuck into the pokemon's own shadows to teleport right over to the others and tag them, and in the end she had the record of not being "it" for more than ten seconds total over the course of twelve games.

Green watched his pokemon's antics, and weighed his chances against Gold. Green's pokemon were a little slow but strong enough considering they'd been exempt from training for several years prior to the last couple of weeks. Gold's pokemon had undergone progressively hard battles with numerous trainers all very recently. Tomorrow would be a tough match.


	69. Chapter 69

how do you write amazing battles

read "The Game of Champions" by L. Lamora

like holy crap that is quality

* * *

681. neophyte: a beginner; an immature person who is learning

Green grew increasingly nervous as he thought about his chances against Gold. Gold, despite his idiot remarks, was no neophyte; Gold was top-level trainer material, with very strong pokemon. Their battle would be no easy one – it would be the real deal, going all out and employing all strategies.

682. avert: to turn away

He stopped his pokemon for a lunch break, and he jogged alone to the nearest convenience store to buy a water bottle and a sandwich. He ate the sandwich while walking back, and as he arrived at the main road leading up to the gym, he was a little startled to see Arabella right at the front door, preparing to walk in.

"Hey Arabella!"

The other man turned around to eye Green, before quickly lightening up in recognition. "Hey Green! How's it going?"

"Good enough, I guess. Did you hear about Gold and Janine?"

Arabella averted his eyes and rubbed his chin pensively. "Yep. He's a tough one, a whole different level from the newbies we normally got."

683. solicit: to ask for; to seek

"Mhm. Well, we are the toughest gym in Kanto, right? We have to solicit the best trainers for challengers – cause only they will actually offer a challenge." Green patted Arabella on the back before swinging the main doors wide open.

684. infamous: having a bad reputation

Green gathered his pokemon to check on their physical conditions. There were all far from being exhausted – and Green decided to challenge Arabella to a mock battle, two-on-two.

Top level trainers were known for teaching their pokemon moves outside their type in order to deal with super-effective attacks. It was extremely difficult to fully master these moves; crazy wannabes had been found to conduct infamous surgeries on their pokemon to implant electricity storing pouches. Green himself had spent a lot of time working with Machamp to master thunder-punch, and with Arcanine to perfect dragon pulse. Recently he'd been having a bit of trouble teaching Tyranitar how to use aerial ace, for type coverage against grass types, but overall Green had fairly good success with teaching difficult moves.

685. pore: to read or study carefully

Arabella had two normal types – Stantler and Tauros. He'd taught them high damage, high risk moves, which proved effective in taking out most pokemon. However, they wouldn't fare so well against a fighting-type, and Green was eager to see if Arabella had tried teaching them anything new in the past few days. He'd seen Arabella pore over a couple of his old TM's, and Green expected something big.

686. charade: an obvious pretense or deception

They moved to the gray battle platform (the high tech stuff, designed to absorb earthquake shocks), and on the count of three, released their pokemon. Since it wasn't an official battle, Green hadn't set up psychic barriers, but had put aside Exeggutor to watch for flying pieces of debris.

Green wasn't trying to be mean when he sent out Machamp. Arabella had to learn how to deal with super-effective moves if he didn't have any other strong pokemon besides Stantler and Tauros.

Arabella chose to send Stantler out first. They circled each other, Stantler's head down and antlers brandished, Machamp hopping from foot to foot. Machamp broke the standstill, dashing forward and dodging the antlers to quickly land a punch. Stantler moved in the direction of the punch, skipping awkwardly away to the corner of the ring, trying to minimize impact. However, the deer had already lost a fair amount of damage in the hit.

What happened next was probably one of the weirdest things Green had seen in his battling career. Stantler, not a very cute pokemon, began making swaying his hips and making doe eyes, in attempt to attract Machamp (seriously not cute, but it seemed to work on some pokemon). Now, both pokemon were male, so normally attraction, especially interspecies attraction would be impossible, but Machamp completely fell for the charade. Machamp's tensed up muscled relaxed, and the pokemon completely let down his guard.

687. ultimatum: a final demand or statement of terms

Green face palmed, wondering how Machamp could be attracted to a _deer_. He shouted at Machamp to back up and get a hold of himself, but the infatuated pokemon just stood and gazed at Stantler. Stantler stopped flirting and immediately began gathering silvery blue energy. Green didn't recognize the move at first, but as Stantler began charging, he realized Arabella's ultimatum: it was a zen headbutt.

Green shouted and called for Machamp to snap out of it, but the normally stoic pokemon was deaf in the name of gay interspecies love. The headbutt hit him square in the chest – the blunt antlers didn't impale (there were rules that pokemon couldn't aim for vitals with potentially lethal weapons), but probably would leave a couple nasty bruises. The blue energy coating the antlers dissipated into Machamp's skin, adding an extra push.

688. tantamount: equivalent in effect or value

A headbutt like that would be tantamount to bullet punches – adding in the psychic energy, it would have been a powerful blow. Machamp keeled over, knocked out. Green whistled and clapped, and traded Machamp for Arcanine.

Stantler staggered to the side, and collapsed from recoil. Arabella scratched his head, and recalled the deer, sending out Tauros.

689. rankle: to cause persistent irritation; to feel or express irritation or resentment

Tauros was pretty fast and had high attack – while Tauros was prepping for a charge, presumably a giga impact, Green had Arcanine bolt around the arena, building up speed. He then commanded Arcanine to rankle Tauros with bites and scratches, to break Tauros' focus. Tauros turned angrily, and settled for trying a normal headbutt. The bull charged straight into Arcanine's dragon pulse, and subsequently collapsed. Arcanine drew up to his regal height and proudly walked back to Green.

690. propitious: presenting favorable circumstances

Green and Arabella recalled their pokemon, and walked to the center of the arena for the customary handshake.

"Great job with Stantler! Well, I was surprised that Machamp was actually infatuated, but zen headbutt is a great choice."

"Uh, thanks. I actually didn't think it'd work out, and the timing really was propitious and a huge stroke of luck, but I guess it was ok. Stantler hasn't mastered it yet – he's still taking a huge amount of recoil, and we haven't figured out how to fix that."

"Yeah, but if you can figure that out you'll have a huge surprise factor." Green turned to Exeggutor to take down the psychic barrier so they could leave. "Well, you should go to the Pokecenter, I'm going to finish up training with the rest of my team; you can stay if you want but I don't recommend you send your pokemon into another battle just yet."

"Alright. I'll go practice in the forest?"

"Right. See you."


	70. Chapter 70

and as we are 300 away from halfway

coming up soon is the battle with gold

and then gold vs red

dun dun duuun

i wish i could write battles i'm so sorry if they're boring

* * *

691. wan: sickly pale; colorless

Machamp was still wan and unconscious when Green released him. Green fed him a revive crystal, and then sprayed his injuries with a hyper potion. He let Machamp and Arcanine take the rest of the day off, and focused on working with the rest of the team.

692. poignant: sharply painful to the feelings

The rest of practice passed uneventfully – none of Green's other trainers showed up for extra practice. Gyarados was making small earthquakes as he reared up to land icy cold fangs in the cloth target Pidgeot was dragging around. Tyranitar was making real earthquakes on the battle platform, with Exeggutor watching and controlling the destruction. That was another thing – Green'd have to hire actual psychics for tomorrow, because Exeggutor would have to battle.

Later in the afternoon, his pokemon were panting and sprawled on the ground, happy and exhausted, and Green recalled them, satisfied with their practice today. He motioned to recall Umbreon, but she let out a poignant cry, and nuzzled Green's shins. Green hadn't let her do anything more than intense tag because of her limp (in tag, she was just shadow hopping anyway), and she was still eager to practice.

693. spat: a small argument or dispute

Green wasn't up to a spat with Umbreon about her health, so he rubbed her head and picked her up in his arms and hugged her as he locked up the building. She purred and buried her head into his shoulder, still sulking. He rubbed his cheek on her head, and scratched her behind the ears.

694. skirt: to lie along the edge of; to pass nearby or around, rather than through

They skirted the main roads, taking the roundabout way home through the suburbs. The sun was falling in the west, and the sky lost its bright blue hues to lavender and peach. Green checked his watch – the days were truly getting shorter, and fall was on its way. It'd become harder and harder to climb the mountain as snowfall increased.

695. obligatory: legally or morally required; require as a routine course of action

He'd gotten to his apartment and was balancing Umbreon in one arm as he unlocked the door (did Latias lock it for him after Gold left?) when his phone buzzed. Green fiddled in his pockets, looking for his phone, and when he picked it up, Gold was on the other end.

"Yo Green! I feel like asking you for your preference is kinda obligatory cause I'm bringing home take-out so: d'ya like traditional Kanto food or Hoenn stuff?"

Green held the phone between his cheek and his shoulder and twisted the key in the lock. "Uh wait a sec- um, get Kanto food. I'm visiting Hoenn in a while so I'll try the real stuff when I get there."

"Cool! See you in like thirty minutes!"

696. profane: showing contempt towards what is sacred; nonreligious in subject matter

Green mentally cheered as he got the door open, but felt his heart stop when his phone dropped from his shoulder. He was about to shout something profane (that phone had way too many pictures of Red to be thrown away) but Umbreon caught it at the last second with a pink ball of psychic energy. She slowly moved it onto the counter and then smirked at Green and rubbed her nose on Green's shirt.

697. inure: to make used to something unpleasant

Latias was happily watching television in the living room – Green wondered if she hadn't been as inured to sleeping all day as she seemed. She waved at Green.

"Hiii Green~! Today, Latios spoke to me, said forr me to take a break for a while! He's awake!"

Green looked at the stone she still had on her lap. Lots of the black rock encrusting it had fallen off, revealing the beautiful crystal within. "…Wow, that was pretty fast. Well, I was thinking it'd take a pretty long time, like a couple weeks."

"Eh, just hearing his voice is far from his body rre-appearring. But big imprrovement, I'm so happy!"

Green flopped down beside her on the sofa. Umbreon wiggled out of his arms and onto his lap. Latias was watching a nature show about deep sea creatures. They watched in silence, listening to the deep voice of the narrator and watching wailords and wailmers swimming in the inky depths of the ocean. When the commercial break began, Green spoke up. "Hey, would getting extra psychic energy from others help?"

Latias blinked. "Mmmm- I think so? Just, it takes looots of energy at once, so for not so strong, it can be dangerrous."

"That's ok. I think Mewtwo would be more than happy to help."

698. tantalize: to torment or tease by showing something desirable while keeping it out of reach

Latias tilted her head sideways, curious as to how that would work out, especially if Mewtwo needed so much heat to just live. They were interrupted by Gold pounding on the door.

Green gently moved Umbreon to the side and stood up to open the door. Gold was sweaty and panting, and smiling like an idiot. A tantalizing and savory aroma wafted from the take out boxes he was carrying in each hand. Gold stormed in the door and plopped the boxes on the dinner table and flopped down into a chair. "Oh my Arceus this smells so freaking good, I thought I was gonna die if I walked home smelling it so I ran the whole way back!"

699. conspicuous: easy to notice; obvious; apparent

Green pulled out forks, and gestured for Latias to come to the dinner table. She stared, then smiled and set aside the glowing orb and transformed into her human form. She was pretty small in either form, so she could've probably just levitated by the table to eat anyways, but she probably was happy to eat at a table.

Gold's preferences were conspicuous – although the kid offered three boxes, he was staring quite obviously at the stir-fried noodles. Green shoved the box of noodles at him and flicked him on the forehead while laughing.

700. puerile: childish; foolishly immature

There was something puerile yet comforting about eating with people at a table – there was a kind of happiness, a sense of together-ness that only came from eating at home with people at a table. It was probably a long shot from what normal kids had and didn't treasure – eating with family wasn't something that happened a lot with the Oak household. There was no conversation over the food, but it was warm and happy and satisfying just eating with people at home with the TV humming in the background.


	71. Chapter 71

my writing turns into even more crap when i write at 2 AM whiich happens to be a lot of the time

* * *

701. pensive: thinking deeply or seriously, often of sad things

While Gold washed up utensils and cups, Green called all of his other trainers after dinner to remind them to show up tomorrow morning. Latias had returned to her normal form and started imbuing her energy into the orb with renewed determination. When Green finished making his calls, he came to sit by Latias and elaborate on his "get help from Mewtwo" plan.

At first, Latias seemed to ignore him, but after a minute, she looked up. Green noticed how the bright, almost glowing sheen of the blue orb faded when Latias looked away. "Yes?"

"So yeah, Mewtwo. I'm thinking of bringing him with us to Hoenn. Summer's ending soon, but Hoenn's a warm place and he should do fine in the nice weather. If we visit the overcrowded beach, he can suck up whatever he needs and people'll pass it off as a cool breeze. He should be really helpful for psychic energy input, right?"

Latias grew pensive, her brows furrowing. "But forr him, is much efforrt, why would he do so?"

702. confide: to tell something in secret

Green smiled. These legendaries were sometimes so oblivious. "He likes you. Maybe not romantically, yet, but he still likes you." Green stood up, and made to leave the living room. "He kind of confided to me that he likes you. Besides, it's a good excuse to drag him out of the cave and show him that humans aren't that fragile."

"Wait! Then, when should we see him, ask him to go?"

Green tapped his pursed lips. "Hmm… we leave next, next Friday right? I don't think I can fit many more people or pokemon in here, so we can drop by sometime this week to talk to him to give him a heads-up." Unless Mewtwo could sleep in a chair or on the kitchen table or something.

"…ok." Latias nodded, and smiled as she waved good bye to Green. "Good night!"

703. reek: to give off a strong, unpleasant order; to be pervaded with something unpleasant

After finishing his chores, Gold prepared to flop back down on the sofa and play on his phone, but Green dragged him over to the shower and tossed him and his traveling bag in. Gold was the kind of person who showered when he felt like it, or when he was meeting someone important – he'd probably just have slept in his sweaty clothes if Green hadn't tossed him in the shower. Honestly, he didn't think that he reeked or stank, but he'd had bad judgment in his odor in the past.

When Gold finally finished (apparently it was just that hard figuring out how to use the shower), Green took his turn in the bathroom. Gold had gotten the whole place soaked – the floor was covered with water. He rubbed his forehead in frustration and sighed as he wiped off the toilet cover with a towel and placed his neatly folded sleeping clothes on top.

704. salutary: beneficial; favorable to health

Although most people claimed to grow philosophical when showering, Green's head blanked out – he found the relaxation and salutary effects of showering in the temporary forgetting of troubles. While the warm water heated his shoulders red, all he thought about was of how much shampoo there was left in the bottle and whether he needed to get a new bar of soap. Red needing more blankets, whether Mewtwo would like riding on ships, Gold's upcoming challenge, and the level of Steven's stubbornness were all worries that dissipated in hot running water.

705. enormity: great wickedness; an evil act

The magic of forgetting faded as he shut off the shower and toweled himself dry. Green was considering the state of his apartment; he was ok with people staying in his home, but he just really wanted to be with Red, not a ton of freeloaders. The sheer enormity of kicking out Latias was too overwhelming, and Gold had proved to be a friendly and obliging guest. But Green just wanted to be alone with Red and hug and snuggle without freezing his toes off. He missed Red.

706. serene: calm and peaceful

Although years had passed serenely with no abrupt fires or breaks in their connection, Green wondered if it was a good thing to be so accepting of the long distance. He got that Red wanted to be far from people, and so Green gave Red his space, although making regular trips up Mt. Silver. However, the separation was taxing, emotionally and physically. Green had been longing for Red for longer than he cared to remember, even if Red only recently made him confess.

707. perfunctory: done without care or interest or merely as a form or routine

Green found that if he didn't keep a tight check on his thoughts, they often strayed to Red. A perfunctory glance at emails helped him ground his thoughts temporarily, but when he stared at the ceiling from under his blankets, he kept on thinking and thinking. What did Red want? How close were they? Were they just friends, were they close enough to kiss, were they old enough to know what they were doing?

708. ghastly: terrible; horrible

The ghastly dilemma of moving too fast or too slow bothered Green all night. Red was twitchy and still not entirely comfortable with general human contact – would it be too much to hold hands while sleeping or to hug and cuddle?

Green eventually fell asleep to the rhythm cheeps of insects outside. Light from a too-close lamp post illuminated Green's curtains, and a white beam shone on his bed. The moon ghosted through the sky all to quickly, and in a few hours dawn had arrived.

709. stately: dignified and handsome, especially in size or proportion

Monday morning made its stately presence known by having the sun glare into Green's eyes. Green groaned and rolled over, but the sunlight persistently attacked his eyeballs. He eventually surrendered to dawn and got up to start the day.

710. corrode: to eat into; destroy gradually, as by a chemical process

Gold's enthusiasm and excitement only served to further corrode Green's happiness meter – so after breakfast, he stoically chose to be quiet and enjoy the peace before the hectic confrontation with the media eager to capture Gold's battle.


	72. Chapter 72

LOL would you believe it

gyarados' speed is 81 and togekiss' is 80

wow

* * *

711. mundane: typical of this world; commonplace

Around seven thirty, they left together for the gym, hoping to be early enough to avoid most of the reporters. Arabella had rounded up the other trainers to come especially early to get a little practice in before Gold arrived, and they all turned and made a collective gasp when Green and Gold walked in. They stood around with their pokemon, randomly positioned for training on the deactivated tiles. The warm yellow ceiling lights shone down on the dark tiles.

A bored-looking man with a huge camera was sitting in the corner, recording the trainers, but he sat up and immediately starting shooting with a huge grin on his face as he saw the main characters walk on. Green's eyebrow twitched in frustration, but otherwise ignored the reporter. Another stranger popped his head around – he had a Mr. Mime, so it was probably the psychic he'd hired for the barrier.

"Get to your places, I'm going to turn the traps on!" Green jogged to the challenge platform at the other end of the building. The building looked extremely dull, as the floor looked mundane, its neon lights still dead. The other trainers recalled their pokemon and ran to their places. Green looked over his shoulder. "Ready?"

"3, 2… and 1!" The main lights shut off, and the gym fell into darkness. Then, a medley of bright lights flickered once in the floor, before buzzing to life. The neon blues and reds of the glowing arrows on the traps reflected off the walls, casting the walls and ceiling in a shining light.

712. precept: a rule or action of conduct

"…DUDE! Green, this is hella cool!"

Green smirked. "Hope you didn't eat too much for breakfast!"

According to the precepts, Gold was fully entitled to avoid all the trainers he could and just try to find the way straight to Green, but Gold chose to run into every single trainer. Gold was probably enjoying the booby traps too much – he was spinning gleefully and shouting as he crashed into Arabella.

713. belligerent: eager to fight; aggressive; engaged in warfare

Arabella usually was at the front because his pokemon had the most experience of all the other trainers, and he also tended to do a fairly good job in systematically beating novice challengers. Arabella barely caught Gold in time to save the spinning kid from hitting his head on the floor and getting a concussion. After thanking Arabella, he belligerently asked for a battle.

Arabella agreed as per the rules, shutting off the surrounding tiles so they had more space. They backed off to opposite corners of the dead-tile zone, and released their pokemon.

714. colossal: very large

Green furrowed his eyebrows as Gold released Togekiss to battle Arabella's Stantler. The Togekiss was large for its species, easily surpassing six feet, and it appeared colossal when flapping around above the barely four foot tall Stantler. A Togekiss?

Arabella looked equally bewildered – and he told Stantler to prepare for a headbutt whenever Togekiss swooped down for an attack. Gold laughed, and his Togekiss snickered – they say "like trainer, like pokemon" – and Togekiss dropped down out of the air, its wings clasped together in a… brick break?

715. opprobrium: a bad reputation or disgrace gained after a specific action

Green deadpanned. Teaching Togekiss a physical move was almost opprobrium – they had incredibly high statistics for special attack and special defense, but pathetic physical attack power. Even aura sphere would have been a better fighting attack… However, Gold appeared to be just that ridiculous, and Stantler was knocked out.

716. invidious: tending to arouse hostility or resentment

Arabella looked horrified, and although Gold probably had no intention of being invidious, his pokemon battling was breaking all the rules of conventionality. Togekiss used a more traditional psychic blast to take down Tauros, and the overwhelming power caused even the bull to pass out.

717. flagrant: conspicuously bad or offensive

Gold's battling was ridiculous, flagrant even – but his pokemon appeared to be on such a different level, that it defied all logic and he simply had Togekiss overwhelm the trainers one by one. Eventually after careful observation, Green realized that Togekiss was indeed using aura sphere, and simply nose diving to have better accuracy, and making it look like a brick break for showing off.

718. hymn: a religious song; a song of praise

Green a faint understanding as to why fangirl trainers who sang hymns to Gold were such bad trainers. Gold's battling style was something probably perfected after hundreds of battles, which was why he could throw caution to the wind and have his pokemon use such ridiculous strategies. Normal people couldn't just teach their pokemon how to be fearless, how to overwhelm, or how to defy type advantage. Throughout all the battles, Gold used no other pokemon besides Togekiss.

719. juggernaut: a terrible, irresistible force

Gold crashed through the trainers like a juggernaut, and soon, he was in front of the challenge platform, feeding Togekiss a sitrus berry. Green could feel his pulse rising. Gold might even be on the level of Red – good beyond comprehension.

720. hospitable: friendly, kind, and solicitous toward guests; receptive or open

Smarter novice trainers usually figured out how to avoid the other trainers and tried to challenge Green directly, so Green had found it necessary to try to be at least somewhat hospitable. However, confronted by Gold, there was no reason to be hesitant. Green motioned to the psychic to set up the barrier. The cameraman struggled to keep his camera safe as he sprinted across the tiles to get closer to the battle.

The two trainers shook hands and exchanged traditional, somewhat friendly threats before moving to the opposite corners of the arena and releasing their first pokemon. He sent out Gyarados, and Gold sent out Togekiss, and the two sized each other up. Even though Togekiss was large for his size, Gyarados was at least three times its size, and capable of leaping and jumping. The air was no safe zone.

Green and Gold each called out their first commands, and Gyarados coiled up, and prepared to leap up to sink icy fangs into Togekiss' wings. Togekiss glided by and tried to shock Gyarados with a thunder wave to paralyze the enormous serpent, but Gyarados was a hair faster - he reared up, lifting fifteen feet of his twenty foot body length off the ground to jump and bite the jubilee pokemon. Togekiss hissed (Green had never seen such an agressive togekiss) and twisted out of Gyarados' mouth, but its movements were strained and it was forced to land. Gold's smile faded and was replaced by a determined stare. The battle was just getting started.


	73. Chapter 73

721. till: to prepare the soil for planting

Togekiss' mobility was greatly reduced once unable to fly, and Gyarados landed a heavy blow, whacking his tail and knocking Togekiss into the barrier of the arena. Green grimaced a little at the resounding slap, but Gold gave his pokemon a thumbs up before recalling him. Green raised an eyebrow, and called for Gyarados to return to the farther side of the arena to put a safe distance between whatever pokemon Gold released next.

Gold sent out Ampharos next. Ampharos dropped to a defensive stance immediately, before seeing Green and waving. Green waved hesitantly – had he even seen a wild ampharos before? Maybe a mareep, or flaafy… Flaafy? Like, Gramps' flaafy, the one on the ranch that he and Red… Ok, some interrogation was in Gold's future…

Gyarados seemed confused, but waited for the awkward pleasantries to be exchanged before preparing for attack. Green immediately knew this would be a touch match-up, and by gym battle customs, Green wasn't allowed to switch out Gyarados (stupid rule) unless the massive serpent fainted. Any electric attack on Gyarados was near certain KO – like tilling soil in a garden with a chainsaw (Daisy, oh silly Daisy almost murdered his precious flowers).

722. abeyance: a suspension of activity

Green's only hope of Gyarados not passing out in vain was in Gyarados' speed. Ampharos had high special attack statistics, but was really slow – Green could try landing a quick hit and hope that Gyarados could dodge whatever dreadful attack came up afterwards.

"Gyarados! Ice fang!"

Gyarados lunged forward about halfway across the arena before suddenly held in abeyance. The serpent dropped clumsily onto the ground, convulsing and twitching. Green recognized the strange movements – paralysis? When did that happen? It couldn't have been Ampharos, the sheep was still charging up its thunderbolt – holy crap-

"Move move move! Gyarados!" Green panicked, but the serpent was still shaking, unable to even roll over to the side.

723. stationary: not moving

Ampharos let out a massive blast of electricity, and Gyarados shuddered before finally becoming stationary and falling unconscious. Green rubbed his temples as he recalled Gyarados. When had Gyarados been paralyzed? Did Ampharos have some kind of secret long distance thunder wave?

Green let out Tyranitar. A good strong earthquake would knock Ampharos out. But that paralysis?

724. tepid: moderately warm; lacking force or enthusiasm

Green carefully watched Tyranitar's movements as he prepared to wreak havoc in the arena, analyzing for potential paralysis. Seeing none, he belatedly realized that it was Togekiss that had paralyzed Gyarados, and that Ampharos was not capable of performing magical paralysis.

Green glanced at the Mr. Mime monitoring the barrier, and the psychic looked mildly nervous – this would be the first major attack in a series of otherwise tepid ones, and serious damage to the building could be caused if the psychic didn't do a proper job. While the moves so far hadn't been arena destroying, this was a different matter. The psychic really did look jittery, his ears quivering.

725. rigor: strictness or severity

Ampharos, on the other hand, looked fairly confident in lasting such an attack, and instead was posing dramatically, eyes closed in a very Gold-esque style.

Tyranitar was not fast, but Ampharos was among the slowest of all pokemon, so when Tyranitar leaped a little into the air and rammed a fist imbued with an aura sphere into the ground, Ampharos had nowhere to run as the arena floor literally rippled before tearing and breaking apart. Ah, repair costs… Tyranitar never held back in battles, fighting with a rigor that was both laudable but worrisome when it came to managing repairs… At least the Mr. Mime looked fine…

726. whet: to sharpen; to make keen

Tyranitar had practiced a ton to control the size of the impact, and Green and Gold were hardly affected by the earthquake – a little weak kneed, but nothing serious. Ampharos, on the other hand, had been whacked square in the side by a treacherous chunk of concrete arena floor that had turned up and smashed him in the side. The electric type should have been close to passing out right then, but the narrow escape only seemed to whet his and Gold's excitement. He was still making the ridiculous pose, although shaking a little bit.

Tyranitar was extracting his claws from the ground, unguarded due to his confidence in his earlier attack, when Ampharos suddenly opened his eyes and roared. The yellow pokemon leapt forward with the last of its strength, and then crashed down, releasing a focus blast.

727. recrimination: to reply to one charge with a countercharge

Ampharos passed out from the effort, but Tyranitar was left with a huge amount of damage. Green deadpanned. "Gold! What is it with you and teaching your pokemon fighting type moves?"

Gold laughed and responded with his own recrimination. "How about you and earthquakes? Doesn't your machamp know how to dish out earthquakes too? Your exeggutor used to know it also!"

So Gold had studied up on Green's pokemon. So what if Green liked earthquakes? It was a reliable and pretty _ground-breaking_ move, ha ha, perfect for flashy battles. The cameraman looked exhilarated too.

728. evasive: intending to avoid; misleading

Green chose not to respond out loud to Gold's comment and instead called for Tyranitar to back off to watch Gold's next pokemon be released.

Gold's next pokemon was Lapras, who looked quite displeased to be on such rocky terrain. Although Green's pokemon were all loyal fighters, Gold's seemed to be more of the sassy type – and Lapras seemed to fit the stereotype, as she indiscriminately drenched one of the pitfalls on her side of the arena with a massive hydropump, creating a tiny pool. At about eight feet, one wouldn't think she'd be able to release so much the water.

Although Lapras now looked quite like a sitting target, Green and Tyranitar knew better – Lapras didn't need speed – they were pokemon with incredible stamina, and with the right training, they were capable of lasting many, many attacks without complaint. Although some grew evasive when confronted about their supposedly cruel training techniques to improve their Lapras' stamina, most knew that Lapras, in pokemon battling, were meant to take big hits.

729. scope: the range or extent of something

Tyranitar didn't have the energy for a second earthquake, so Green called for a direct aura sphere. Although Tyranitar didn't naturally have fabulous special attack stats, Green had made sure to cover the whole scope in his training – Tyranitar's aura sphere wasn't going to be easily shaken off.

Lapras wasn't waiting for anybody, and responded to Tyranitar's aura sphere with another hydropump. The water was released in a far smaller jet, which led to much higher pressure and concentrated power. The stream of water overpowered the aura sphere, and Tyranitar was knocked out.

730. sacred: worthy of worship; made holy

Green wiped sweat from his forehead and recalled Tyranitar. It'd been a long time since he'd had such a difficult battle – he'd almost forgotten how taxing and nerve-wrecking it could get. He sent out Exeggutor, and the pokemon chattered excitedly. Exeggutor didn't usually get to battle (Green made him set up barriers since normally he didn't hire psychics – it wasn't like he didn't trust them, but he felt that barriers were sacred, since they represented the difference between tournaments and fair battles and skirmishes with robbers), but Exeggutor's adeptness in controlling special attacks had only increased with constant work on barriers.

Exeggutor shook his leafy head and created a pile of leaves. As Lapras opened her mouth, natural refrigerants pulsing in preparation to release an ice beam, Exeggutor hurriedly swept up his leaves with psychic energy and created a veritable whirlwind. He launched the swirling storm of leaves at Lapras, who vainly tried to freeze it all, succeeding in only stopping a few leaves.


	74. Chapter 74

731. surreptitious: done secretly, often of something unseemly or unethical

Gold commanded Lapras to splash water to soak the storm of dry leaves, and the pokemon complied – with all the additional weight of water droplets, it became difficult for Exeggutor to manage, and the storm subsequently subsided. Lapras had various shallow cuts on her skin, and it really looked quite serious with the blood, but it really was probably nothing that wouldn't heal with a couple potions and days of rest.

Green really had become paranoid with pokemon injuries – and it wasn't a baseless fear, because it truly was difficult to identify which injuries were permanent. Although uncommon, it did happen, and Green never wanted to have a pokemon suffer permanent trauma after what Raticate'd gone through. Green glanced at the cameraman, who was currently surreptitiously sticking his camera in the barrier and shooting a close up of Lapras, and then mouthed "sorry." Gold blinked before smiling.

Lapras still seemed fine, and after wiping herself off, most of the shallow cuts stopped bleeding. Green let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and ordered Exeggutor to try to attack with psychic energy instead. If he tried another leaf storm, there'd be far less leaves and it'd be far less effective.

732. redeem: to turn in and receive something in exchange; to make up for

Exeggutor nodded with his three heads, and prepared to launch a psychic attack. Lapras shot an ice beam, and even though Lapras certainly wasn't fast, Exeggutor was a _tree_, and had even worse mobility. The ice beam hit Exeggutor right in one of his faces, and he shuddered from the cold, before trying to reorient himself and clumsily launching a blast of psychic energy.

The attack missed Lapras by a long shot, and Exeggutor immediately tried to redeem himself by launching another attack. Lapras wasn't about to wait for anybody, and she launched yet another ice beam. Exeggutor ducked, had his leafy "hair" frozen, and then launched another psychic attack.

733. immutable: unchangeable

Lapras strength seemed to be immutable, taking blow after blow without weakening. She shook off the last psychic attack and roared in frustration, tired of ice beams, and released a small scale blizzard.

Exeggutor passed out, his bark-like skin crusted with icy flakes. Green recalled Exeggutor, thinking who'd be the best choice to fight Latias – definitely not Arcanine, not Pidgeot… Machamp?

734. slovenly: careless about one's own appearance

Machamp appeared and gleefully sized up the situation. He was all for throwing chunks of concrete and Tyranitar had done a good job smashing up the arena; although Exeggutor didn't really specialize in physical strength, that was Machamp's specialty.

Machamp eagerly looked to Green for instructions to tear up the floor, but Green had other plans. He and Machamp had developed almost a kind of code, from all their training together for the thunder punch. Green punched the air, and shook his fist. A kind of bad pantomime, but easy to understand.

The boxer looked to the ceiling – the faint pink barrier aura rose in tall walls around the arena, but did not obstruct the pale blue lights of tiny lamps hanging from the ceiling. Machamp bounced on his calves, planning just how exactly he'd route the electricity to Lapras. Even if his form was perfect (not that he ever was slovenly), it was still impossible to jump twenty-five feet into the air without help.

735. spate: a large number or amount of something, especially in a brief time

Machamp glanced at Green, who gestured to the corners of the arena. The boxer deadpanned, but dodged as an ice beam shot his way, and sprinted to a corner. He shimmied up, bouncing from foot to foot on the translucent barrier (almost like climbing on air) and upon reaching the top, he leapt for the lamps without hesitation.

He swung on one of the tiny hanging lamps, and the wire frame supporting the lights groaned with Machamp's weight. Eventually, the wires ripped (Green grimaced as he made a quick sum of cost of repairs for the spate of damages; Lance was going to roast him by dragonite fire) and Machamp pushed off the wire frame and came hurtling down towards Lapras, pulling the wires with him.

736. transgression: a violation of law; the exceeding of proper boundaries

The wires could be heard shifting and rattling in the ceiling as Machamp pulled them out, and they eventually frayed as Machamp stretched them out to the max and Machamp connected the sparks with Lapras' body. There was a flash, and then silence. Machamp let go of the wires, which hung despondently. The cameraman's jaw was on the floor.

Gold looked about to shout that such an attack was a transgression, but Green smirked. He'd carefully studied rules before trying it out – there was nothing that explicitly said you couldn't use the surroundings to your advantage. Lapras had passed out, but Machamp had also taken a fair amount of damage from making such a huge leap. Machamp pulled himself out of Lapras' little pond, and hopped back to Green's side of the arena.

737. desecrate: to violate the religious quality of something

Seeing Green's confidence in the validity of the attack, Gold threw up his hands – who said Gold was unconventional? And Green was close to desecrating his nearly complete "one hundred battles, one hundred victories" streak. Gold hadn't been pushed this far since that last challenge with Silver, almost a year ago. Togetaro, Ampharo, and now Laparo were out – so that left Explotaro, Ambo, and Kazataro…

Gold released his Alakazam. Kazataro was the old man of the team, not only the smartest, but also the crankiest when pissed.

738. etiquette: the forms of behavior of polite society

Alakazam landed gracefully when released from his pokeball – he sized up the extent of destruction, and growled. He bowed to the Mr. Mime (a psychics' tradition of etiquette) and then raised his spoons for attack.

Green's brain side-tracked, and brought up thoughts of Mewtwo's spoon – Mewtwo's spoon could probably hold a hundred of Alakazam's puny ones. What was it with psychics and spoons? Why not forks, or more lethal, knives?

But anyway, Machamp was in a bind – he stood next to no chance against the much faster psychic type, and with type disadvantage, there was little he could do. Green cursed – if only regulations allowed him to recall pokemon! He would have switched out and saved Tyranitar, argh…

739. red tape: procedure or forms necessary for a task, especially excessively complicated steps as part of a bureaucratic process

Green'd already had enough to do with the red tape set by the Indigo League – filling out paperwork for the right to have special requirements for his challengers was already a pain, and writing up forms to change regulations would probably bring a ton of complaints… Well, it was overkill for weak trainers, but for trainers like Gold…

740. conscript: to draft compulsorily, especially into military service

Machamp could see the huge disadvantage, but he wasn't about to go down without a fight – he'd been conscripted to pokemon battling, but had come to love the challenge. Green racked his brain for ideas, but nothing critical came. He motioned for Machamp to just blast Alakazam's defensive barrier with rocks and concrete chunks to make things easier for Arcanine.

Alakazam snorted as Machamp heaved up a huge chunk of floor and tossed it at Alakazam. The psychic teleported to the side with ease, and sent a spiral of condensed psychic energy spinning into Machamp's stomach. The boxer swayed on his feet before toppling, unconscious. Green's palms began sweating. He and Gold each had two pokemon left, but Gold's Alakazam was still at full health. And there was that monstrous Typhlosion still…


	75. Chapter 75

Yes I know that pidgeot can't learn close combat

But you do know that I do love me some sinnoh

And sinnoh means staraptor and close combat wootwoot

btw 750! 37.5% finished! and we're still not at life together! at least in terms of Green and Red! ...whoops

* * *

741. ignominy: shame; dishonor

Green released Arcanine, who raised a fuzzy white eyebrow at the sheer extent of destruction. Green drew a circle with his finger, and Arcanine nodded and proceeded to bolt around the arena, picking up speed. Arcanine was still slower than Alakazam (that teleporting was ridiculous), but the dog pokemon was fast enough to avoid the brunt of a psychic blast. Arcanine were known for their stamina, and Green's Arcanine wasn't about to bring ignominy on the name of his species.

742. temerity: excessive boldness or rashness

Arcanine grew progressively faster, and Alakazam's attacks fell further and further off target. The psi pokemon growled at Arcanine's temerity, and settled on calming his mind to prepare for a devastating counter attack whenever Arcanine attacked.

In seeing Alakazam stop launching attacks, Green held out his open palm and then clenched his fingers into a fist. Arcanine made another round, circling the arena a last time before changing direction and dashing towards Alakazam with jaws open, preparing to crunch and rip apart the defensive barrier the psychic had set up.

743. monograph: a scholarly book on a narrow subject

There was a reason as to why Eevee had been so hesitant about evolving – her bloodline almost guaranteed that she'd evolve into Umbreon, but she strongly disliked the harsh and cruel attacks that were given same type attack bonuses as a result of her type. Years before, Green had borrowed a monograph from his grandfather's library to read up on dark type moves, but it was a depressing and logical truth that dark type moves were… dark, traitorous, and cruel.

Green had made sure to lecture Tyranitar and Arcanine about dark type moves, as they could prove fatal if used on normal pokemon. Luckily, dark type moves were only effective against psychic types and ghost types. Psychic types generally set up defensive barriers, and when dark type moves ripped apart the barriers, their defense was generally weak enough that a normal hit would suffice. Ghost pokemon didn't even take lasting injuries, although they tired easily when hit by dark attacks – ghost pokemon were just a pain to catch or attack.

744. turpitude: immoral behavior

Arcanine was never one for turpitude anyway, and after shredding the barrier and bounding away, he made sure to check that Alakazam himself had not been injured – without their barriers, psychics were fragile and easily injured. Alakazam grew angrier with Arcanine's obvious concern, and lashed out with a shadow ball.

745. thrift: care in managing money or other resources

Unfortunately for Gold, all of Green's team had plenty of experience with shadow balls after practicing with Umbreon. Immediately after seeing the manifestation of ghostly energy, Arcanine bounded away to dodge.

The shadow ball crashed into the barrier, dissolving it and smashing the wall outside. The Mr. Mime paled, and the psychic's trainer looked aghast. Gold smiled sheepishly. Sighing, Green rubbed his forehead. Thrift and caution: two very important values in managing gym battles. He really should have paid a little more for another psychic…

746. shroud: to conceal; something that covers

Before Alakazam could shroud himself in another barrier, Arcanine charged forward, breathing fire, and bowled Alakazam over with a flare blitz. Gold shouted for Alakazam to take cover in Lapras' pool, but it was too late – Alakazam had spent too much energy trying to materialize another barrier, and couldn't muster the energy to teleport away.

747. procure: to obtain or acquire

Alakazam passed out before Gold had the time to procure and spray him with a burn heal. Arcanine was mildly injured from narrow escapes with psychic blasts, but still able to fight. Gold released Ambipom.

Ambipom was delighted to have an arena with hanging wires, torn up concrete, chunks of strewn floor and a tiny pool. For the monkey, the more obstacles the better. The four foot pokemon heaved up chunks of rock with its tail, and gleefully tossed them at Arcanine.

At first the rocks were easy to avoid, but Green realized too late that the projectile weren't being thrown indiscriminately – throwing rock after rock with his two tails, Ambipom cornered Arcanine and pelted the dog pokemon with chunks of concrete.

748. desideratum: something needed and wanted

A means of escape was desideratum – Arcanine whined when he was hit by a larger chunk of concrete. Green shouted for Arcanine to just take one more hit and run past Ambipom to open space. Arcanine heard his command and then dashed to the side, only to get tripped by one of Ambipom's long tails. Arcanine stumbled, and was unable to avoid the bop on the head that knocked him unconscious.

749. subsist: to maintain life

Green's palms were now sweating profusely – he had only one pokemon left: Pidgeot. Gold had his insane purple monkey and the colossal Typhlosion. Green clenched his teeth into a tight smile of determination, and released Pidgeot, his partner since so early on in his battling career.

Green yelled for Pidgeot to fly high to avoid any rock throwing from Ambipom, but the monkey was panting, apparently far more exhausted than it had let off earlier. Green noted the purple monkey's exhaustion, and made eye contact with Pidgeot. Two fist pumps.

In good health, Ambipom may have been faster, but Pidgeot swooped down and smashed into the monkey with clenched talons before the purple pokemon could dodge – close combat was risky, as now the bird was easily in the monkey's range, but judging by how Ambipom was lying prone on the ground, the attack had obviously been successful. Pidgeot had picked up the move from a friendly staraptor in Sinnoh, and it had proved to be a valuable, albeit risky, move. Gold recalled Ambipom.

750. metaphor: a figure of speech calling one thing another to imply likeness

Pidgeot circled up nervously as Gold's last pokeball opened, the red light flashing out to release the colossus known as Explotaro. The typhlosion was beyond just a metaphor of an unstoppable force – Gold's Typhlosion was famous for wiping out complete teams. The volcano pokemon landed on all fours, before slowly standing up, eyes still closed. Typhlosion stepped into an aggressive attack stance, and then opened its eyes and released a massive burst of fire from its back.

However, Pidgeot was not intimidated. No matter how overwhelming the enemy, there was always a chance, a weakness that could lead to victory.


	76. Chapter 76

Ok another funny thing

Gen 6 pidgeot speed is 101

Typhlo speed is 100

Wut

And mercy pls im sorry but im only a high school closet fangirl idk science

* * *

751. contingent: dependent on conditions or circumstances; conditional; possible

Pidgeot was understandably nervous – Green's victory was contingent on his ability to somehow knock out Gold's famous Typhlosion, a fire breathing colossus at full health. A daunting task indeed.

Pidgeot had to land a whole succession of hits for any chance of knocking out the volcano pokemon, while Typhlosion only land one flamethrower. Unfair? Just a little. Ok, Green was complaining, but honestly, being pushed into this kind of situation was really a big pain.

752. beleaguered: harassed; besieged

Landing physical blows would be nearly impossible; Pidgeot chose to try to beleaguer Typhlosion with whirlwinds instead, keeping a safe distance away to anticipate potential flamethrowers. The blasts of wind did little damage, if any – the gusts only seemed to stir up the collar of flames around Typhlosion's neck, making the tongues of fire dance and grow progressively larger. After sizing up Pidgeot, Typhlosion began releasing ridiculously powerful flamethrowers, and Green could feel the heat blasting his face even on the far end of the arena.

753. regal: kingly

Typhlosion raked the air with flamethrowers, keeping Pidgeot spinning and diving to dodge attacks. Green's heart stopped almost every other attack, but Pidgeot was just able to dodge by a hair. Red's training must have done wonders with Pidgeot's agility and maneuverability, because the bird had never been able to drift and dive so smoothly.

Pidgeot's regal crest was a bright blur that streaked to and fro in the barrier, and when Green swung his fist around in a circle above his head, he prayed that Pidgeot would be able to see. When hurtling around in the air like that, it would be hard to believe that the bird could see anything.

754. radical: favoring fundamental or extreme change; relating to roots or origins

Typhlosion finally stopped to take a breath, and Pidgeot immediately took the opportunity to back up into a corner and begin pumping his wings to move the cold air from the outer edges of the arena and stir up the hot air in the center. The intense heat from Typhlosion's relentless fire was quickly vaporizing the pond Lapras had made, and the collecting moisture began to swirl into a whirlwind, which picked up speed and grew into a small scale hurricane.

755. errant: wandering outside of established limits; straying

The Mr. Mime had barely finished setting up a barrier to cover the ceiling when the violent twister started up in full force. At that point, even Pidgeot could not control the attack, but he had no need to – as soon as the attack began stirring up its own force, he was simply drifting in the eye of the hurricane, a veritable shield and destroyer of anything errant that happened to sit in its path.

756. chagrin: feeling of embarrassment because of failure or disappointment

Of course, the whole attack was not as unstoppable as it may have appeared – Pidgeot was hard put to stay in the safe zone, as a careless drifting to the left could lead to his own demise. Also, it was impossible to see anything from the inside, while an attacker on the outside would have a good idea exactly where the user would be.

The hurricane gravitated towards fluctuations in temperature, which generally meant that the move was following Tyranitar's tremendous flames. The proud pokemon seemed chagrined, as it had merely stood and launched attacks beforehand; now, Typhlosion was struggling to reduce his own fire and escape the relentless pursuit of the twister.

757. contentious: always ready to argue; quarrelsome

Typhlosion was narrowly dodging the attacks, but not losing hope. Although contentious and quarrelsome when it came to battling for other trainers (Gold had let a newbie use him in a battle – it sucked), Typhlosion had been with Gold since the beginning, and fully trusted in his trainer. Gold was watching every single part of the battle actively, and had not called out a plan of action yet – however, judging by the look on his trainer's face, he was on the brink of reaching a plan.

Gold had an epiphany when he saw Typhlosion dash along the side of the arena. The twister had faithfully followed the heat disturbance, and had crashed into the side of the barrier and slowed greatly.

758. patriarch: a man who rules a family clan; a very respected old man

The patriarch of Gold's family had always been his grandpa, renowned for both his top class breeder status and his strange battling style. Gold's grandpa had created his team from the local pokemon he'd befriended, which had led to a homogeneous type team. Low level teams with little diversity had hard times climbing up the ladder of the battling world, but Gold's grandpa had succeeded with diligent observation and notation of his pokemon's quirks and specialties. He'd taught Gold the art of careful observation in battle, and Gold had made full use of his teachings.

759. umbrage: offense or resentment

"Explotaro! Keep close to the barrier!"

Typhlosion complied, and slowly, as the Mr. Mime strained to keep the barrier intact, the twister died down. As the gusts cleared, Typhlosion caught sight of Pidgeot, who was still trapped in the last winds of the twister. There was little Pidgeot could do to escape – he was a sitting target until the winds cleared, and Typhlosion wasn't about to let this chance up. He sucked up in as much air as his lungs could carry, and then released his largest flamethrower attack yet.

The flames swirled into the dying twister that trapped Pidgeot, and gradually closed on the bird. Pidgeot passed out from the extreme heat, and Green carefully aimed the red light of the pokeball so as to catch the plummeting bird.

Gold screamed. "YEEEES! HOLY SHIT THAT WAS SO CLOSE OH MY AR-" Green plugged his ears. A huge weight seemed to fall from his shoulders – instead of taking umbrage, he felt relieved. Although he'd been handicapped by gym regulations, Gold hadn't abused the rule, so it still had been a fair battle.

760. paradigm: an example; a model

The two trainers navigated their way to the side of the arena, and the pink barrier slowly dissipated. Gold was ecstatic, fist bumping and high fiving Typhlosion. Green scratched his head and smiled. There was no shame in losing to Gold – although certainly a strange and unconventional battler, Gold was definitely another paradigm of the genius battler. The only other being Red.

"Congratulations. It was a great battle." Green extended his hand for the customary handshake.

Gold seized Green's hand pumped it heartily. "Hell yeah! Next time we should battle outside of gym regulations!"

"Next time?" Green turned and hopped off the side of the arena, walking to the office to go look for the stash of badges - he hadn't even opened the box of them yet. Gold followed him, and the cameraman joined in too, eagerly recording the conversation.

Gold nodded at Green's back. "Yeah, we definitely should have a rematch! After I challenge Red!"


	77. Chapter 77

Lol I started writing this chapter in the middle of 786 ish so some vocab might look familiar in a couple chapters

* * *

761. lethargic: dull; sluggish; moving slowly

It took all of Green's mental strength to retain his composure after Gold casually mentioned that _he was going to challenge Red._ Green's eyebrow twitched – but he had to remain calm; although the cameraman was zeroing in on Gold's face, Green had to play it smooth or else the cameraman would be all over him with questions.

"You're going to challenge Red?" Green tried to remain as casual as possible, and dusted off a couple boxes to read their labels. Leaf told him that he talked faster when he was nervous, so he'd tried to speak slower, but now he just sounded lethargic. He glanced at Gold, pleading that Gold wouldn't give away Red's location.

762. dissent: to disagree

Gold caught Green's desperate glance. "Yeah… If I can find him." After catching Gold's response, the cameraman pointed his camera (the black monstrosity) at Green.

Green brushed the sediment off a label – it was the right box. He pulled out his keys tried to cut up the tape to open the box. The aged plastic stretched in dissent, but finally ripped apart. The silvery badges were in pristine condition. Green put his hand in the box, and there was a clear tinkling of metal as he picked up an Earth badge.

763. inherent: included as an essential part; intrinsic

"Seven years ago when I began collecting badges, the felon, Giovanni was in charge of this gym… he only gave out three badges then: to me, then Leaf, then Red. After he was kicked out, Lorelei managed this gym for five years, and she was so rarely here, I believe she didn't give out any badges either. So, you are probably the first person to have gotten an Earth badge in the last half decade. Congratulations." Green pressed the little green badge into Gold's palm.

Gold stared at the badge incredulously, marveling at the inherent simplicity mandated for all badges. "Are you serious?"

"Yep."

764. frail: easily broken; delicate

Green handed over some battle money, and Gold took it. Gold bowed to Green, and then walked out of the office, and hurried out the gym, the cameraman eagerly asking questions. Green watched as the cameraman spun on the booby traps, clutching his frail camera. The cameraman was able to stay upright (dammit, Green was hoping that he'd fall and destroy the video), and chased Gold. Green let out a sigh and texted Gold.

10:14 AM – Green: whatever you do pleeease don't tell him anything h doesn't need to know

10:14 AM – Green: especially anything about Red (sent)

765. intransigent: refusing to compromise or agree

There was no response, so Green could only pray that Gold would be stubborn and intransigent enough to deny the cameraman any information. Red had plenty of random trainers anyway – he didn't need more newbies coming his way.

Green glanced out the window. The trees were swaying gently outside, peacefully waving to and fro, completely ignorant of whatever had just happened inside the gym. After the chaos of the battle, it was somewhat hard to look outside and see such calm and peace.

766. laughingstock: a person or thing that is the object of laughter

He yawned and stretched his arms. Hopefully the battle would be flashy enough so that even the gossipy old ladies that watched cute kids battle would have to admit that it was really a tough battle. Green didn't need to become the local laughingstock of a gym leader – Brock could do that alone.

He walked out the gym, shut off the booby traps and turned on the normal lights. The neon lights flashed before shutting off. The ethereal aura of the gym disappeared as the traps deactivated and the building regained its humdrum lighting.

767. fulminate: to issue a strong verbal attack

The gym trainers were seated on their tiles, nursing their pokemon with berries and potions. They stared at him. Green prepared himself for a fulmination – after all the preparation, he'd still let them all down.

Instead, Salma began clapping, and was quickly joined by Arabella, then Bonita, and then the twins. Green felt the blood rush to his face.

768. juncture: a point in time; a concurrence of event

No words needed to be said. Salma pulled everybody together for a group hug, and they wrapped their arms around each other. They held onto each other tightly, before letting go and laughing. Green felt himself choke up a little, and rubbed the moisture from his eyes.

Green cleared his voice "At this juncture, we can probably expect a couple more trainers… especially after Janine comes back. Gold was early, but we need to take this time to train and get stronger." He looked at his pokeballs, the silhouettes of his fainted pokemon just barely visible through the translucent red cover. "Of course, for today… we should go home and rest up. Everybody learned something important today, right?"

769. recruit: to restore or renew the health or vitality of

They each nodded, and Green smiled. "If we got something out of it, it was a good experience. Let's lock up and go to the Pokecenter; oh, and I'll need some help figuring out repairs." The barrier builder laughed sheepishly. His Mr. Mime had sustained some serious damage from the hurricane bashing the barrier walls.

Everybody just needed to recruit their pokemon's health, and relax. It was late in the morning and the streets were fairly empty as they chatted and strolled to the Pokecenter. While the others were chattering, Green shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up and inhaled deeply. Losses were inevitable, and no matter how much it actually hurt, things would go on.

770. ravage: to cause great destruction to

The nurse rushed to and fro with the trays of pokeballs, overwhelmed by the sudden flood of trainers. They wandered over to the café a couple doors down, and settled down for an early lunch together. Green release Umbreon, who sat on his lap and rubbed her face in his neck. Green ordered a cup of vanilla cocoa and some scones, and watched as Umbreon ravaged the plate of scones single-handedly.

Umbreon purred happily and rubbed her face in Green's neck. The crumbs around her nose fell down his shirt, and somehow the simple loving motion and tickling feeling of crumb falling down his shirt made him feel warm and fuzzy, and he smiled the first genuine smile of the day.


	78. Chapter 78

771. hectic: characterized by intense activity

Bonita was in the middle of describing the "cantankerous" shopkeeper he was working for when Green finished the last of his vanilla cocoa and stood up with Umbreon in his arms. "Sorry guys, I think I need some time to think… I'll see you around…" A kind of hectic and raucous atmosphere had developed, and even the barrier maker, a retired trainer, had joined in with his own fair share of crazy battles.

Green apologized again when pushing in his chair, and walked away. There was a little bit of an awkward pause, but their conversation restarted in earnest after waving and calling goodbyes to Green.

772. appraise: to officially estimate the worth of

He breathed in the clean air, indulging in the solitude. His trainers had been remarkably supportive, but Green just wanted time to think. He didn't know if he wanted to win – as a gym leader, he wasn't even obliged to use his competitive team, as most other leaders settled for a weaker team to battle challengers.

Green certainly wasn't going to lose indiscriminately and toss out badges like candy, but he also didn't know how to accept his loss. As a gym leader, he was merely a stepping stone for trainers on the way to the league. His loss was nothing unusual, as some leaders routinely handed out multiple badges each day. Would he have to become accustomed to losing? Had he incorrectly appraised the benefits and disadvantages to being a gym leader? Did he want this?

773. deride: to ridicule

It was already too late to turn back; he'd signed the contract to work as leader for at least three years before resigning. But honestly, how did Brock stand his ego being crushed by little kids? A masochist? A really creepy one? Green wasn't trying to deride Brock, but the rock gym leader was really absurdly ok with losing. Did Brock even feel the pain of defeat anymore?

Green scratched Umbreon behind the ear absent-mindedly. He wasn't a competitive battler anymore – he was just another gym leader that would sit around, win some battles and lose others. He'd really just have to get over the loss. Gold was strong, and they both did their best. That was all there was to it. Right?

774. exuberant: lively, happy, and full of good spirits

Green let out another long sigh. Even though he'd promised to forget the loss, it wasn't easy to get back to being exuberant and happy with life. Not like he usually was giggling and smiling, but- he was just feeling down after a defeat.

He slowly walked down the streets taking in the peaceful sights and sounds. For today, he could just stay at home and wait for reports on Janine. His familiar, cream colored and green roofed apartment building came into sight, and he unlocked the door.

775. guise: external appearance, especially a false one

Gold's stuff was still scattered on the sofa, and Latias was awake, eating food. Food that Green hadn't made, which meant that either Latias had gotten up and made it herself (which was unlikely, seeing how she was dozing off into her food like Gold had done earlier that morning), or Gold was still there.

Green cupped his hands around his mouth and called out. "Gold?"

A crash and a bang resounded from the bathroom, and Green hurried over, only to find the door locked. He twisted the knob in vain, and then pounded on the door. "What the hell are you doing in there?"

"SORRY MAN, wait a second…" A clicking sound could be heard, and the door swung open. Gold was wearing only his boxers, and by the look of it, about to take a shower. He had on a guise of innocence, but Green was suspicious.

776. juxtapose: to put side by side, especially for comparison or contrast

"Didn't you shower just yesterday?"

Gold laughed unsurely. "Uh yeah, I was just, um, really sweaty cause I was nervous during the battle…"

Green raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"…ok, fine, I texted Silver and he actually replied, saying that he was on his way to Johto and was going to board the Magnet Train in two hours… Yeah, so I'm going to chase him, and I don't know when's the next time I'll get to use a nice shower, so sorry I gotta rush!" Gold shut the door and a couple seconds, Green could hear the swishing of the shower curtain and the faucet turning on.

In juxtaposing Green and Red's relationship with Gold and Silver's, it was almost ironic how one could find such similarities and differences. They all were top class trainers, but their mindsets were all so different. And Green and Red were always apart, and dealt with it; Gold raved about and chased after Silver whenever given the chance.

777. throng: crowd; a number of people gathered together

Green had come home early thinking he had to cook and eat lunch together with Gold and Latias, but it appeared as though they'd already eaten. He decided to simply nibble on some toast while browsing through battle news.

A couple minutes later, Gold came crashing out of the bathroom, hair still dripping wet. He grabbed his backpack from the sofa and paused when he saw Green at the dinner table.

"Yo Green! I left your battle money on the coffee table! It feels weird to take money from you cause I'm freeloading, I would've refused it but you know, cameraman. So yeah, gotta go beat the throng and get to the station before Silver gets swept away! I'll call you after I'm in the train!"

778. wake: track of turbulence left by something mowing through water (or figuratively, anything that has passed)

Gold swung the front door open and then charged out. And just like that, the short, hectic days with Gold ended. Latias yawned.

Green walked over to pick up Latias' empty plates and pile them in the sink. As he lathered the porcelain bowls with dishwashing soap, he mused about Gold's chances against Red. Gold had certainly had left traces of fans in his wake – at fourteen, he was a bold genius, just the type that news reporters loved to stalk. Also, now with sixteen badges, he had, supposedly, twice as much experience as Red did according to the trainer community.

779. ramification: a development or consequence resulting from a course of action

The ramification of Red disappearing off the records made it way harder for people to estimate his strength. He was hailed as the ultimate champion by some, and dismissed as a fallen legend by others. Even Green hadn't ventured to have a rematch just yet, although they did have friendly contests in other things (like whose pokemon could wash dishes faster).

But Red was strong. Stronger than Green, far stronger. Gold had narrowly beaten Green, so he still had a long shot to go before being capable of taking down Red.

780. articulate: able to express oneself clearly and effectively

The early afternoon drew on slowly and sleepily. Although the morning had flashed by, the afternoon dragged on, and Green felt inclined to take an afternoon nap. Restoration problems could be taken care of later… oh, and he could get them to replace his window too.

Green shut the blinds in his bedroom, and lay on his bed, fully clothed. Hopefully, Gold would hurry up and get on the train and call, so Green could sleep. It was a little daunting that Gold had the boldness to make a call in the train (wasn't that rude?), but hey, it wasn't Green so…

The buzzing of his phone startled Green into consciousness. He must have dozed off, because he'd rolled over until his stomach was on top of his phone, and it kind of felt like he'd just been shocked by a taser (yes, he was ticklish). He found it hard to articulate words to respond to Gold.


	79. Chapter 79

781. destitution: the lack of any means of subsistence

"Hey I made it on the train! With Silver! You'd think he'd be easy to find with his hair, but Arceus, there's like a hair dyeing craze here in Saffron! Like, you hear all those campaigns about hobos and destitution in the streets and then people are like nope gotta spend this money changing my hair color!"

Green rolled over onto his back. "Mm."

"Yeah, people are staring at me so…" his voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm going to see Janine again with Silver, and then I'm going to see my grandparents before going up Mt. Silver. Silver'll probably be coming your way in a couple days. I gotta stay ahead, ya know."

782. propriety: good manners; proper behavior

"Uh-huh, playing hard to catch?" Green kept his eyes closed, too tired to even lift his lids.

"…Something of the sort. I think it's train manners or propriety to shut up and be awkwardly silent so I'll text you, ok? There's pissed old men staring at me and it's kind of creepy."

"Uh-huh." Green heard a beep, and cracked open an eyelid to make sure the call had ended. He let his arm flop to the side, and reveled in the peace and warmth and quiet.

783. implausible: difficult to believe

The reverie was broken by the vibrations signaling an incoming text. Green rolled over onto his side to read the message.

12:57 PM – Gold: yo bro

12:57 PM – Gold: how tough's Red (read)

Green looked at the message and blanked out. Very tough?

12:59 PM – Green: Red's tougher than me

1:00 PM – Green: tougher than you

Some found it hard to believe that the two rivals would split up and follow such different paths – in their competing days, Green and Red were inevitably juxtaposed, their background, attitudes and tactics compared and contrasted. It was a little implausible that Green wouldn't know the strength of his formal rival. But now, Red had reached distant heights (quite literally too), and Green had fallen far behind and had no intention to catch up.

784. conjecture: an inference or conclusion based on incomplete evidence

Gold did not respond. Green's mind wandered off back to sleep. Sometime later, another text arrived from Gold. Green groaned and looked at the message.

1:36 PM – Gold: ok

Green sighed and rubbed his eyes. It was getting harder and harder to fall asleep. He hugged his extra pillow, and texted Gold back a while later.

1:47 PM – Green: if youre going to battle

1:47 PM – Green: tell me

1:48 PM – Green: if theres a fuckin avalanche cos u don't set up a barrier

Avalanches were not part of an improbable conjecture – one of the last challengers had literally blown off a chunk of mountain with a fire blast. Luckily the snow hadn't fallen anywhere near the two since it'd only caused a little chunk to tumble off, but when Green spoke to the nervous challenger as he came down the hill, Green had never forgotten it.

785. sublime: of high spiritual or moral worth

1:49 PM – Gold: ok

1:49 PM – Gold: I'm going up next Saturday

1:50 PM – Gold: Imma spend today and tomorrow with Silver

1:50 PM – Gold: then next couple days with grandparents

1:50 PM – Gold: then on Friday im coming back to Viridian with Silver

1:50 PM – Gold: and then he'll challenge you

1:51 PM – Gold: and then next day is Saturday right so we can all go up the mountain

1:52 PM – Green: wait where dyou all sleep then

1:52 PM – Gold: your sofa?

1:52 PM – Green: wtf

1:53 PM – Green: go to the pokecenter

1:53 PM – Gold: noooooo too many stalkers

As much as Green could understand the creepiness of people staring in his window, he didn't want Gold in his home if he was with Silver. Too many hormones. His place needed to be sublime when Red came down, and he'd never be able to think properly if people had made out on his sofa.

786. composure: a calm state of mind, especially as the result of self-control

1:54 PM – Green: too bad

1:54 PM – Gold: nuuu

1:54 PM – Gold: were not on make out status yet

1:54 PM – Unknown number: This is Silver. We'll stay in the Pokecenter.

Green made Silver's number into a contact, then responded gratefully.

1:56 PM – Green: k ty man

There was no further contact from the two, and Green checked the time. It was almost exactly an hour since they'd first been texting, so they were probably just getting off the train now. Green sighed and sat up. Even though it hadn't really been a nap, it was enough relaxing and daydreaming.

He yawned and stood up, stretching out his arms, hearing a couple cracks and pops. In walking over to his desk, he hit his pinky toe. He hopped around the other foot, wincing in pain. He flopped onto his chair, trying to regain his composure and ignore the throbbing of his foot. If anything, that was a strong wake up call.

787. sediment: a residue that settles in the bottom of something

Green filled out more pdf files for applications, and the day slipped away quickly while working. Umbreon hopped onto his bed where he had been sleeping, indulging in the remaining body heat. The day flashed by in silence and purring, and soon enough the sky was fading to pink.

Umbreon got off his bed and rubbed against his legs, mewling for food. Green patted her head – he was just about to finish this page – but she rubbed her head and nibbled his pants insistently. He finished up a couple minutes later and carried her to the kitchen.

He hadn't had good plain white rice in a while, and the bag was just sitting sadly in the pantry, so he decided to dig out the rice cooker. He dumped a couple cups of rice in the pot, washed out the sediment, and then set the rice with its water in the cooker and flipped on the switch.

788. felon: one who has committed a serious crime

It was pretty easy to forget Latias was even in his place sometimes – she was so quiet, and literally did not move more than a couple feet every hour. But cooking a little more food was quite fun, since Latias never complained about his food and ate it all happily anyway. He looked up a recipe for food with zucchini (some zucchini had been sitting in his fridge for quite a while) on his phone, and then got to work grating the vegetable and chopping up onions.

Umbreon hopped away, and came back holding a clove of garlic. Green rubbed her head affectionately, amicably accused the felon of stealing from his pantry, and chopped the garlic up into the mix.

789. incipient: beginning to appear or be noticed

The mixture of grated zucchini and onion and garlic and eggs and flour was fairly unrecognizable as Green portioned it into the oiled frying pan. However, as it fried, the incipient signs of a zucchini cake appeared – the mixture turned a golden brown and solidified, somewhat similarly to a hash brown. .

790. excavate: to expose to view by digging out

Delicious aromas of fried vegetable cakes and garlic wafted throughout the house, and Latias stirred from her mound of blankets.

"Grreen? That smells good, what is it?"

Green was startled out of daze. He'd just been blankly watching bubbles of oil pop. "Oh! Um, zucchini cakes, zucchini's a vegetable grown around Kalos, I got it a while back and I thought it'd be fun to try something. He left the part about excavating the vegetable from the depths of his refrigerator.


	80. Chapter 80

omg longish chapter

Victini is not manly

If you're confused about the timeline don't worry its fuzzy in my head too

Red and green traveled for 2 years, beat lance 5 years, sapphire became champ a couple years ago, gold beat lance but is collecting kanto badges, unova crew is still on their journey, and I have no friggin clue about kalos I just know they have fairies and it's based off of france

If you didn't catch any of that it doesn't really matter cos ill probably screw something up whoops

* * *

791. endemic: native to a particular country

The recipe was something of an Unovan and Kalosian cultural mix – the vegetable was endemic to a region near Kalos, and the recipe was from Unova. Green picked up the cake with his spatula, and plopped it on a plate alongside a scoop of white rice. He brought over the dish to Latias, who eyed it happily. Green brought over his food to eat on the sofa with her.

"Hey Grreen… you know, rrice has been around a very long time, and people are always changing it – the brreed or something. And I've eaten a lot of rrice, but this is rreallly good!"

792. exalt: to raise in status or character; to increase

Green smiled. "It's just rice though. Well, I wouldn't know how it was like before, but it's still not that interesting." And no need to exalt my cooking ability. Praise the rice cooker.

"Oh, this vegetable, zu-zucchinii," she stuttered on the word, carefully mouthing it out, "is very good! Name sounds like, Victini, you know, cute fire-psychic from Unova?"

"Thanks!" Green bit into the veggie cake – it really was pretty good. "I've seen pictures of Victini, in fact she recently appeared on the news with some kid who's been actively protesting Plasma activity."

793. imperative: urgently necessary; impossible to deter or evade

"Plasma?" Latias scrunched her eyes shut and fought to recall something – she hadn't been travelling a ton recently, but the name sounded familiar.

"Yeah, apparently some organization in Unova that's all like, pokemon happiness is imperative, trainers make pokemon unhappy, stuff like that."

"Hn."

Green took that as a cue to elaborate. Some kid, just another boy trying to be the region champ, was exposing more and more information about the dark dealings of Team Plasma. Really quite a heroic story, reminiscent of Red and Team Rocket.

794. incognito: in disguise

Story telling went on for half an hour, and Green wrapped up after finishing the last bite of rice. "So right now, this kid, Black, is probably still collecting badges. Or he could be incognito, just keeping low to avoid creepers and the media. But either way, something big is happening over there."

"Wow…" Latias stifled a yawn and levitated her plate over to him, and Green wondered when he'd gotten so used to watching her eat by levitating utensils. He grabbed the plate and carried his own to the sink, and got to work scrubbing the dishes and the oily frying pan.

795. maintain: to provide support; to declare to be true; to defend against criticism

Green was a little in awe of Gold's determination to love Silver. Of course, Green had maintained his emotions and feelings for Red for a long time, but it wasn't the same as chasing him and bugging him all the time.

Red and Green and Leaf were always together. Green didn't like Leaf, in the way little boys dislike little girls. But the three of them had played together until they were five. Then, Leaf had left for over four years. Red cried. In those years, Green had tried to fill up the empty space, but when Leaf came back right before Red turned ten, Red fell for her. They hung out together a lot in the days before leaving on their journeys, and it was then that Green began to think of himself as the third wheel. Leaf was undoubtedly smart and pretty, and it was obvious that Red liked her. And like the dense kid he was, he openly gave her flowers and embarrassed smiles.

And then the day before they got their pokemon, Red was sleeping over with Green. Red had told him his feelings for Leaf, and Green got mad, so mad, but he didn't quite get why. Green didn't understand; he hadn't thought of his feelings for Red as jealousy, but more as a kind of betrayal. He'd tried so hard to make Red happy, but then Red had gone and set his heart for someone else.

796. adjudicate: to judge; to preside

It was hard to adjudicate his feelings then, so when they started their journey, Green was unsure how to face or feel with Red. He decided on anger. He trained hard to be noticed, and wondered if Red ever wondered what he felt. He wondered if Red ever realized that their meetings weren't coincidences – the real coincidences were times when Red saw Leaf on the way to the Pokecenter in Vermilion.

Leaf avoided the two of them on their journey, and Green had appreciated it – he'd only recently realized that Leaf was trying to push them together. But when Red confessed to Leaf after the championship, Green didn't know what to think. She hadn't competed – she was only collecting badges and traveling, not aiming to become region champion – but she had come with the professor to congratulate them.

797. perjury: lying under oath

Throughout their journey, Red had spoken less and less. He still talked, but rarely. He'd said there was no reason to, since nobody, namely Team Rocket, listened to him anyway. Green had given him a noogie for thinking too much about the Rockets, but Red still got quieter. After Leaf rejected him, he'd just stopped talking in general. Of course, when Leaf wrote him letters asking why he stopped talking, he never blamed her.

Green didn't even notice when Red had stopped talking. After the championship, Green had left to sulk, and had gone back to school to study, graduate, and find a job in the research community. He'd tried to forget about Red. He tried to date girls, to love someone else, but they all accused him of perjury, saying that Green never took them seriously. That Green didn't really love him even though he promised to do so.

798. flora: plants as a group, especially of a specified region or time

Green lost it two years later, when rumors of the impossibly strong, red-eyed trainer living on Mt. Silver drifted around. He'd ditched school on finals week to climb the mountain for the first time, to find Red.

He'd gotten lost so many times that he didn't even sleep for his first forty eight hours on the mountain. Green had crashed through the flora, stirring up powerful pokemon and engaging in exhausting battles. Every rock, tree, and cliff looked different, yet the same – everything was washed in cold light and what wasn't blindingly white was dyed in blues and purples and splashes of faded green. Eevee and Arcanine were unable to help him with finding clues are smelling traces of Red, as Green made them spend every moment recuperating to prepare for the next encounter.

799. lout: an awkward, stupid person

Even in June, the peaks were coated with snow. Green had eventually passed out in the mouth of a cave, partly from exhaustion, hunger, and oxygen deprivation, and partly from resignation. He'd not seen a single trace of human existence, and his pokemon had all fainted and he was out of revives. There was no way he could get off the mountain alive anyway in that state, clumsy and incoherent as a lout. He could become food for the golbats for all he cared; they'd make better use of his body than he would himself. He didn't care. He couldn't care.

800. abate: to lessen in amount, intensity or strength

He'd woken up, limbs numb and fingers frozen, to the sound of the crackling of a fire. The blaze hardly abated the cold that seeped into his very bones, but nonetheless it was a huge improvement from lying on Arceus-forsaken stones that chilled the life out of his body.

And that was the first time he saw red in almost fifty hours, red as in warmth, red as in human, red as in Red.


	81. Chapter 81

whoops forgot to celebrate 40% complete so here yay 40.5% complete! and here i thought last chapter was long, but i just angsted so much in this, i think its one of the longest chapters

i might add an epilogue cos well whaddaya know i've got an extra packet with hard vocab

but back to angsting

T-T Green bby

* * *

801. hue: a shade of color

The oranges and yellows of the firelight were beautiful, but the shade of warmth and vitality in Red's eyes and cheekbones was probably the most beautiful color of all. After nearly fifty exhausting hours of white and white and white and then blue and purple sunsets (pink was the warmest color he saw – about the hue of his weathered pokeballs), such warm lights were simply overwhelming.

Green must have been passed out for at least a couple hours, since he could remember seeing the sky darkening (he vaguely remembered collapsing around noon, eyes burning from cold and brilliant white snow). But when he cracked open his eyes for the first time, Red was staring straight at him from across the fire he was curled up dangerously close to. Red must have been staring at him the whole time, because as Green stared shell-shocked, he could see Red shoulders slump in relief. Green's eyes flickered to the fire, to the sky outside and then back to Red's thin cheeks dashed with the warm colors of coursing blood and life, and his ruby eyes.

802. relinquish: to surrender or release

It was a wordless reunion – all the cursing and scolding Green had planned was forgotten. Green just lay on the ground, quietly sobbing with his face in his hands, while Red stared. Green missed Red. And he'd just about relinquished everything a couple hours beforehand, ready to join hands with Arceus and skip off and just… leave. And forget. He'd felt too tired, his heart too exhausted and his body giving in to mortal weaknesses. Too tired to think, too tired to care, too tire to live.

But Red was there with him now, and it didn't matter if Red saw him crying because they were together and together was all that mattered.

803. tributary: a stream flowing into a larger river

When the tears slowed and all that was left were puffy eyes and small hiccups, Green uncovered his face and sat up slowly. Red handed him a cracked cup of hot water. Green shakily reached for the cup, and retracted his hand sharply upon making contact with the cup. It was so warm, so shockingly warm that his blue fingers felt like they were being burned off from the touch.

It seemed like every touch was another reminder of the warmth and beauty of life, and it was so overwhelming. Green had let another hot tear slip down his wind battered face, and that one tear became a tributary to another series of tears.

804. mystical: having a spiritual sense or importance

Red had then gotten up and sat next to him, and taken his hands. Green remembered how Red's hands had become surprisingly calloused, although unhealthily thin. But his hands were warm, and as he rubbed Green's frozen ones, Green had no way to disguise the tears that trickled down his face relentlessly. He blankly watched through blurry eyes as Red enclosed warm, steady hands over his own shaking, bloodless ones.

Green remembered everything from that day; how his fingers stopped trembling, how Red's stare seemed to carry so many apologies, and how the sun set in the mystical blanket of clouds shielding the peak from view. How he had chastely pressed dry lips to Red's warm hands, how Red had squeezed his hand, how Red had held him closely as Charizard flew to Pallet in dying rays of sunlight.

805. staple: a basic or principal item, especially of food

Green had still been living in the professor's laboratory, trying to make way for Daisy and her husband. When Charizard swooped down, Green had held onto Red. Red reciprocated the gesture, before gently pushing him away.

"Please, I can't, Red… Red, you don't know what your mom feels, what I feel, what we all feel, Red don't…" Green felt moisture in his eyes yet again.

Red stared, before shaking his head slowly. "I can't." Green felt his heart ache as he stared at Red's thin arms, his too skinny cheeks, his badly cut hair. Red stared back, his eyes soft and regretful, but his mouth set in a resolute line.

Green could almost hear his heart shatter like glass. Red didn't want him. He fought back a choked sob and shakily tried to regain his composure.

Green gripped Red's wrist tightly. "I – I'll get you a bag of rice, you need some staple food… uh, take a couple blankets too, and all of the potions…" Green struggled to keep himself together as he looked under the doormat for the key, and then pulled Red in. Charizard waited outside.

806. maneuver: to direct through a series of movements; to manipulate into a desired position

Red was a little hesitant, but Green showed no signs of letting go. Red let Green maneuver him around the lab, and to the pantry of the studio place that had set up. Green let go of Red to grab the fifty pound sack of rice, and Red thought of running for it. He turned to dash away, but Green's tortured eyes held him there – those dull green eyes, begging him to wait.

807. ramshackle: about to fall apart or fall down

Charizard grunted as the rice bag was heaved onto his back (Red had taken the sack from Green's shaking arms), and stared curiously as his trainer willingly followed Green back into the lab. They emerged a second time, Red carrying a bundled up blanket with all kinds of things stuffed inside. Red cautiously mounted Charizard, who waited for Green to back off so he could take off.

But Green didn't move anywhere – he walked up and hugged Charizard, who awkwardly hugged back.

"Take care of Red," he'd whispered. And then he'd let go, and backed off, and watched the dragon disappear into the inky sky. He might have seen Red glance back, but it could have been a trick of the misty clouds settling in over the town.

"I love you." Green choked out these three words, and his ramshackle heart, now a tiny remnant of the house of cards he'd originally had, toppled over for good.

808. internecine: pertaining to conflict within a group; mutually destructive

He wandered back into the lab, aimlessly fingering the equipment, trying to invoke memories of the happy past. He should have been starving – he really was, but he had no desire to eat. Instead, he sipped a mug of the professor's horrendously bitter coffee and rubbed his eyes, trying to figure out what the internecine strife between him and Red and Leaf had done to him.

809. hearten: encourage; give strength

The shattering of a plate slipping from his hands brought him back to reality. Latias raised her head up to look at Green, who was staring blankly at the broken pieces of porcelain, some scattered in the sink and others on the ground.

"Grreen? Grreen, you're crying…"

Green rubbed his eyes, laughing hollowly. "Oh, you're right."

Latias stared. She set aside the orb for a moment and flashed through Green's thoughts. An intrusion on privacy, but the brunette needed it – she'd never seen him so lost. Upon reaching his recent flashback, she set aside his thoughts and spoke quietly.

"It's ok to be sad…"

Green looked up – he'd squatted down to pick up the shards, one of which had pierced his foot.

Latias continued. "Think of you now – put the past behind, it hurrts, it hurts so much to lose someone, but you have to keep going, because there are people that need you now, people that want you to be there. Red wants you to be there."

Green felt a little heartened. True, he'd come up the mountain quite a lot after the first encounter, and although Red had never come down, at least he hadn't run off to another cave. And just recently, things had started to come together, with him finally confessing and Red admitting it too.

810. sluggish: lazy; lacking energy

Latias' voice rose gradually in loudness. "You aren't allowed to waste your life, you have to spend it wisely, love who you love, and live! Grreen, you can think back, but you can't walk back, you must walk forrward! You-" she sighed, her voice dropping back to a soft murmur. "You've done what you can, and Red has promised to come down when he is defeated, or in a year's time. It's not your fault."

Green sluggishly wiped off the blood from the cut on his foot. The bright red was entrancing, but Latias' words struck him deeply. He'd never forgiven himself for being so cruel, and although Leaf had gotten back on good terms with him and Red had never accused him anyway, he hadn't let himself forget what he'd done. The hot droplets of water fell freely, but his voice steadied.

"Thank you Latias. Thank you."


	82. Chapter 82

I do paint

I do not hack

* * *

811. orchestrate: to arrange so as to achieve a desired effect

Sometimes Green felt like his life had been orchestrated into a cheesy kind of TV show. He'd qualify in so many ways for the unlucky protagonist – abandoned by parents, overshadowed by grandparent, third wheeled by best friends, champion for half an hour, and hopelessly in love.

Other times, he felt so grateful for what he'd gotten – a loving sister, a good education, understanding companions and coworkers, a whole ton of luck, and Red.

But most times, he just felt lonely – not a particularly sorrowful lonely, but more of a "I need a hug" lonely. After taking a bath with his leg awkwardly draped outside the tub, he bandaged his foot and crawled into his bed, hugging his extra pillow tightly.

812. verbiage: excessive wordiness

He greeted Tuesday morning with the kind of strength that comes only from a catharsis, a purging of emotions. He perfected his pancake flipping and smiled as he brought Latias a plate of pancakes. She smiled back, and the events of yesterday were forgotten – no verbiage, no awkward conversation.

He took Umbreon out for grocery shopping, and for once, he smiled politely and held open doors for the elderly and the thank you's he got in return just made his day that much brighter. The cranky lady at the cash register who was there every day looked at his smile, and then offered her own smirk.

813. pristine: remaining in a pure state

With the majority of paperwork out of the way, Green spent the day looking for both public and leaked files about the Dream World project. Besides the publicly released statuses on Devon's formal website, there was little to see besides posts from curious bloggers.

Green shut off his desktop and wandered around the house, thinking of what to do. He'd always kept himself busy so he wouldn't have to think about Red and how much he missed him. But now, he wandered about aimlessly.

He spied his small pile of art supplies – he'd ordered a couple extras in addition to what he'd bought for Red. He picked up a pristine canvas, and then looked at Latias, who was sleeping peacefully.

814. scoff: to make fun of; to ridicule

Although he was no arts master, his paintings weren't anything to scoff at. His school had required courses and credits in the art department, so he'd taken choir (bad choice, too many flirty girls and pissed off guys), and then painting.

He filled a plastic cup with water and got out a new palette and brush. He squeezed out a dab of each color of paint, and then began by mixing cadmium red with yellow ochre and a touch of burnt sienna. He added a little water (the oil paints were water based) and sketched out the outline of Latias and her blankets, taking care to check proportions.

815. inoculate: to inject something, especially a medicine

Although he was a science type of guy, dabbling in the arts inoculated him with a kind of magic medicine that made him lose track of time and mix furiously to get just the right shades of lavender or scarlet. By the end of three hours, he had filled the canvas with the basic colors, a blurry smudge of what he had originally planned to paint. The canvas was now too wet to work with, so he settled for taking a picture of Latias and waiting for the next day to come by before continuing.

816. defame: to attack a person's reputation; to slander

He set aside the painting to dry in the pantry (it smelled a touch strong) and retired to his room. His phone was still lying on the nightstand, charging. He picked it up, and saw new messages from Gold and Leaf.

9:28 PM – Gold: silv just beat janine

3:49 PM – Gold: got to my grandparent's house

3:49 PM – Gold: apparently dentaro misses you?

3:50 PM – Gold: wtf how

3:50 PM – Gold: that's ampharos btw (read)

And then the first messages from Leaf in a while.

7:22 PM – Leaf: heard you lost yesterday bro

7:23 PM – Leaf: asses defaming you online

7:23 PM – Leaf: so I trolled them and blew up a coupla news website w/ flying pidgeot

7:23 PM – Leaf: it's pretty cute you should check it out before they figure out how to fix it lol (read)

817. opaque: not letting in light; unintelligible

Green climbed onto his bed and lay on his stomach. He propped himself up on his elbows and texted back to Leaf.

7:30 PM – Green: wth that's illegal af (sent)

He flipped to the chat with Gold.

7:31 PM – Green: idk man I haven't seen any ampharos in years I swear

7:31 PM – Green: check his pedigree maybe he's from the Oak ranch or something (sent)

Green was grateful for opaque windows. Because when he rolled off his bed and onto his swivel chair to look up popular news sites, he was laughing his head off, loud enough to attract stares probably from casual passersby on the street. Leaf had actually glitched famous, professional websites to have cute, pixelated pidgeots flapping by, making it essentially impossible to read anything on the page. And she didn't stop there – she'd messed around and transformed the boring backgrounds of the black and white pages into shiny, rainbow messes of seizure inducing colors.

818. vigorous: energetic; forceful; strong and healthy

Staring closely, he could see some print (yellow on flashing white was hard to read), presumably posted by the web managers. They were vigorously spouting empty threats – Leaf had apparently started messing with them at least four hours before, and they'd still been unable to get things together. It'd caused a sensation across the internet, and some actually looked into the cause of the whole affair and started making comments on the videos of the battle. Good comments.

Green finally got over laughing at the flapping pidgeots with rainbow crests streaming across the pages, and texted Leaf back.

7:35 PM – Green: LOL WTF MAN THIS IS GREAT

819. partisan: a strong, often militant, supporter

Green browsed through comments, and found that the internet had formed sides that were pro-free speech and others that were anti-hacking, and the whole controversy about battling privacy and crappy and creepy news reporters was exploding.

7:36 PM – Leaf: ikr

7:36 PM – Leaf: im on pro-free speech side lol search jigglyPFS some person made a page so partisans can register for petitions and the stuff this is crazy

820. mausoleum: a huge tomb

7:37 PM – Green: actually I think I saw that already the page with obnoxious pink background

7:38 PM – Leaf: yep

7:38 PM – Leaf: hey I believe some thanks are in order

7:38 PM – Leaf: I distracted the media

7:39 PM – Leaf: im crashing at your place on Friday k

7:40 PM – Green: ugh no I just denied Gold and then he's going to kick up a ruckus about me being unfair

7:40 PM – Leaf: gold wanted to sleep with you

7:40 PM – Green: UGH no

7:40 PM – Green: I let him sleep on the sofa over the weekend and now I think he thinks we're best buddies

7:40 PM – Leaf: you little shit you let gold sleep in your place before Red

7:41 PM – Green: …

7:41 PM – Leaf: you have three days

7:41 PM – Leaf: and then im fuckin beating you up and tossing you in the oak mausoleum

7:41 PM – Green: …

7:42 PM – Leaf: no im serious

7:42 PM – Leaf: Red likes you

7:42 PM – Leaf: just because I couldn't love him doesn't mean you're allowed to trash him

7:42 PM – Leaf: and here I was peacefully doing fieldwork for Rowan

7:42 PM – Leaf: you know what bring Gold over to your house we can all crash in the living room and I can observe this creature you let in your apartment


	83. Chapter 83

I couldn't keep up doing long chapters

here's a short one

* * *

821. monarch: one who rules a state, usually for life and by hereditary right

A couple minutes later Gold texted back, happily announcing his surprise that Green had had a change of heart. Somehow, Green felt like his life had fallen out of his control and into Leaf's… She had the threatening aura of a monarch eager to behead disobedient minions…

Latias glanced at him curiously when he walked into the kitchen – she'd heard his laugh earlier, and was curious as to what in the world could have caused such a huge mood change.

822. nadir: the lowest point; the bottom

Green'd hit his emotional nadir the day before, and was eager to distract himself with little laughs; genuine or fake, it didn't matter, but as long as he wasn't moping it was ok. He hummed as he stirred the noodles into the boiling pot of water, watching the hard, brittle strands soften.

823. bequeath: to pass down to; to hand down, especially in a will

He spent the next couple days training all morning, painting in the afternoon, and chatting with Leaf or looking at cute eevee pictures in the evenings. On Thursday, he invited Daisy and her husband over for dinner, and they were quite pleasantly surprised by Green's progress in the culinary department. Latias had neatly arranged the sofas and sat on them, invisible, but eavesdropping.

"Since when did my little brother become such a good cook?" Daisy rubbed Green's hair affectionately, stifling a chuckle as he swept his bangs out of his eyes irritably.

"It really is good, almost better than Daisy's," the other man commented. Daisy snorted and slapped him playfully.

"It is not! Ok, maybe kind of close…" Her playful expression suddenly dropped and she looked at her husband. "Honey, would you mind dropping by to buy a watermelon or something for a gift? I don't think we ever brought a house- or, apartment-warming gifts." He stood up and nodded, quietly shutting the door behind him.

Daisy turned to Green, the smile having vanished from his face. "Green, I was really glad you called me over today – I have something to say too. Grandpa's trying to bequeath us his fortune."

824. resuscitate: to revive, especially from apparent death or unconsciousness

Green spluttered. "What? He's little over fifty, and he was and probably still is really fit for his age! He's nowhere near passing away- unless something happened… Daisy, Daisy what happened to him?"

Daisy seized his hand. "Calm down now. He's fine – currently tootling around Kalos. He called me this morning, saying that he's planning to retire from research and resuscitate his career as a trainer."

"What?!"

825. fallacy: a false notion, especially one based on incorrect reasoning

"Yeah, me exactly. But he's pretty serious, and he wanted us to talk about who gets the lab or the ranch or generally what we should do with the property."

"Uh, it might be another fallacy from one of his weird mood swings again… this happened a couple years back too, right? When he found out about the new Hoenn champ, that really young girl, and was all inspired to become the oldest champion or something."

"I know, but this time… even if he changes his mind, I think we need to start planning for the future – the ranch gets a ton of volunteers, but that won't last forever and we need to figure out who really is going to take care of the place in the future."

826. polemic: a controversial argument, especially attacking a particular opinion

"We don't have to make it polemical though right? Can we just like share responsibilities? The lab and the ranch are supposed to be parts of a whole anyway."

"Well, both of us have lives now, right? It's going to be hard to manage the whole thing; better for us to share duties, right? I was thinking, you manage, update, remodel, do whatever to the lab, and I'll feed and check on and take care of the pokemon on the ranch. Good massage practice, eh?"

827. hearsay: rumor; gossip

"You're going to go around massaging random pokemon?" Isn't that a little like sexual harassment?

"Yep! If you haven't caught on to hearsay, I've become something of a friendship booster for people and their pokemon! Hey, why don't you call out Umbreon and I'll give her a nice rub." Daisy twirled her wrists and opened and closed her hands, wiggling her fingers.

828. bellow: to yell very loudly; to shout

Umbreon hopped onto Daisy's lap, and Green watched curiously as Daisy aimed carefully for specific points on Umbreon's back, rubbing in methodical circles. Green released Arcanine, who, seeing how cramped the apartment was, quietly squatted and lay down on the floor. Green tried to aim for the same spots – although probably around four times larger, Arcanine and Umbreon had similar body structures – but as he tried to rub the right spots, all he got were mournful bellows and whimpers.

829. vagrant: a person who wanders from place to place, especially one who lives on the streets and constitutes a public nuisance

Daisy shook her head disapprovingly and shooed Green away and went to work easing off sore spots and tight muscles. Umbreon patted Green's hand consolingly with a paw, before wandering back to Daisy and mewing for another massage.

Green wondered why he loved Umbreon so much when the little vagrant was always betraying him for food and massages. He frowned as both his pokemon nuzzled happily against Daisy.

830. indigenous: native, occurring naturally

Her husband returned a while later – his return was clearly audible, with heavy steps and grunting as he trudged up the stairs. Green opened the door and relieved him of the watermelon, and Daisy left off of massaging Pidgeot to cheer.

Green reached for his tiny apple knife, but Daisy snorted and grabbed a meat cleaver. She (way too happily) chopped the huge fruit in one blow, nearly splitting his table with the strike. Green winced and asked Arceus why the women in his life were so frightening.


	84. Chapter 84

goddammit school

* * *

831. inert: unable to move or respond; sluggish

Daisy and her husband left after she neatly chopped the watermelon into triangular slices and arranged them on a plate. Both Green and Latias let out a breath when the front door slammed. Green walked over to the sofa, and placed the plate of watermelon slices on the coffee table. Latias materialized, removing her invisibility.

He took out the leftovers from dinner and brought them over for her to eat. "How's Latios?"

She looked up from a spoonful of fried rice. "Inert… Maybe able to forrm illusionary body… But talking to me a lot! He says thank you for taking care of me!"

832. pandemic: general, widespread; a very widespread disease

Green smiled. "Sure thing." He helped himself to a slice of watermelon. "Can he talk to me directly though?"

"Maybe… we talk through telepathy; not norrmal telepathy though. Kind of like old language, communicating not through words but through… vibrrations… and very simple ideas." Latias was having trouble trying to describe the feeling, and Green completely understood when some humming appeared in his head. It was a deep in tone, and quiet; it conveyed a kind of warm feeling that made him feel tingly. It was the kind of feeling one gets when first looking into someone's eyes and making the friendly, albeit a little awkward, introductions.

"I – I think I get it."

"He just spoke to you right?" Green nodded (did that count as speaking?). "We learned human speech during the great pandemic many eons ago; broken dam and flooding caused disease, and we needed to tell humans how to fix things. But language style always changing – for pokemon too."

833. nascent: coming into being; being born

"Yeah." Learning archaic languages for code deciphering in the Unown ruins was a pain in the butt.

"Nascent languages have many words, many meanings, sometimes tough to learn. But all my siblings, we all speak old language – good because we all understand each other, bad because some don't want to learn modern language and can't speak with normal pokemon, humans."

"Wait, why is it so hard for humans to understand pokemon language? They understand ours so easily – or at least, they seem to."

"Our modern language has many, many dialects – but all from the same father language. It is difficult to understand each other, but we learn languages quickly; we speak in our dialect, others understand and respond in their own dialect. Humans not so good at language – you all speak similarly, so you have trouble recognizing all sorts of poke-dialects."

834. brazen: showing shameless, insolent boldness; made of brass

"Wow."

"You should try to learn – language barrier is more destructive than you think. Most humans are happy as they are, but is better for you to listen and understand. I think Gold can communicate with his pokemon quite well."

No wonder he was so brazen with ridiculous attacks. His confidence in his pokemon was beyond brute strength; it came from understanding. "Which dialects are easiest to learn?"

835. harbinger: someone or something that indicates what is to come

Latias hummed thoughtfully. "Hn… well, psychic family obviously, ghost family too… and then fairy and dark; most of the special types. Oh, dragons are quite communicative when not stubborn… Harder to learn from fire, bug, grass types. Why don't you work with Umbreon, she knows you quite well."

Umbreon looked up and made a face. Oh, those cute eyes, harbingers of the end of Green's wallet.

Latias was not to be put off, and she pouted. "Please?"

Green made a pleading face too. He'd never thought of learning poke-speech, since it wasn't like he could really speak it either. It'd be hard… but interesting.

836. stalwart: firm and resolute; having imposing physical strength

Umbreon made as if to be stalwart – so very few people had successfully learned poke-speech – but when Green held out a bar of chocolate from his stash, she relented. Anything for 80% dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds…

She flopped her ears down and whimpered. Green felt his heart squeeze and said, "Sad." Latias nodded.

Umbreon then stared at Green. Green furrowed his eyebrows, but then she jabbed him sharply with a paw. "Ouch! Uh, me? You? …Green?"

Umbreon then squatted down and then raised a paw and twirled it around the side of her head. "Cuckoo? Crazy? Stupid?"

Umbreon nodded. Green strung the words together. "Sad Green stupid? … Sad, Green stupid… Sad because Green is stupid?!"

837. ledger: a book for keeping financial records

Umbreon smirked, and nodded. Green indignantly squished her cheeks, but Latias clapped happily. "Good good! That was fairly complex, uncommon phrase. But she is playing charades, not quite speaking." Latias clicked her tongue and looked at Umbreon. "Try something more common, actual language too."

Umbreon scrunched up her nose. She purred, smiling, and then made what sounded kind of like a little cough. Green scratched his head, and she made the same sound, and jumped on his lap and reached for the chocolate bar. Green looked to Latias for translation.

"She said she likes chocolate – purr is happy, 'cah-coh' is cacao, chocolate. Dark family has good speech, should be easy to pick up words."

The rest of the evening passed with Green trying to figure out Umbreon's speech – when Latias curled up to sleep, he carried Umbreon into his bedroom, where they continued the exercise. He scribbled down notes in the margins of his ledger while calculating expenses for the rest of the month.

838. assiduous: diligent; hardworking; constant

Green had always been a fairly assiduous student, but around midnight, Green gave up trying to figure out what 'mree-reh' meant. He hugged Umbreon, who sighed (wow she was getting sassy), and then showered, brushed his teeth, and went to sleep.

839. quarantine: enforced isolation to prevent the spread of disease; to isolate for such a purpose

Early Friday morning, Silver texted him. Green was eating toast and still trying to figure out what 'mree-reh' meant, and Latias was just giggling.

7:20 AM – Silver: I am coming to battle in two hours. (read)

Green slammed his head on the kitchen sink. Arceus dammit, he totally forgot about that. Ugh, couldn't the league quarantine trainers and have like, what, a battling season or something so people could actually have a life sometimes? Hey, that was a good idea…

840. harrowing: very distressing; painful

But another harrowing load of paperwork would accompany a drastic change like that so… maybe not. Well, Green now had two hours to get his pokemon active and ready to fight. A little tough? Very tough – he'd had them recuperate all of Monday and Tuesday, and they were still at the ranch in Pallet. He had just enough time to get them back through the PC and then warm up, for what, an hour and a half? If he started running around… now?


	85. Chapter 85

i hate school

* * *

841. abet: to encourage; assist, or support, usually in wrongdoing

Green ran to the Pokecenter, shouting across the phone at Arabella, who was in an equal state of panic. Silver had not made such a large appearance in the media, as Gold had been the big star a couple days before. Of course, he may have abetted or encouraged Leaf to hide his media presence too. But ither way, none of Green's trainers had heard the news until Green had frantically called them.

Luckily, the line to use the PC was pretty short (it was indeed quite early to be scrambling to teleport your pokemon) and Green managed to retrieve his pokemon from storage. He pocketed the worn out pokeballs and sucked in a breath and exhaled sharply. Time to run to the gym.

842. obscure: lacking light; dim; dark

PC's teleported pokemon to obscure rural areas where special storage ranches were maintained – most ranches were in the north, around Bill's house, but the local trainers of Pallet all kept their pokemon in the Oak ranch. Each pokemon would get eight hours of social time and feeding time, and then sleep in their pokeballs for sixteen hours while others took their turns in the fields. The schedule was mandatory primarily because Green and Red and Leaf had amassed over five hundred pokemon, including a few from abroad, and the other less well known trainers had contributed perhaps another one hundred.

All in all it made for a hectic schedule, but the volunteers, primarily retired trainers, parents, or kids too young to get their trainer license, did wonders in maintaining order. Of course, it wasn't a perfect system, as some pokemon often got harder to manage or depressed when kept too long (unless you were talking about meowths or snorlaxes, sixteen hours was quite a lot of boring sleep time), but it usually worked out fine.

843. immaculate: perfectly clean

It helped Green a ton, because he rarely took his pokemon out of their pokeballs to train nowadays, and felt bad about it. Letting his team spend its time at the ranch took pressure off his back. Well, he kept Pidgeot's pokeball around, since Pidgeot preferred Viridian Forest and would come at the call of a special whistle. But the rest of his battling team often spent a couple days every week at the ranch.

The time was 7:53 when Green burst in the gym, which was still in a state of destruction from the previous match. He'd forgotten to call a psychic too – gosh darn it, everything just wasn't working!

Green ran back and forth with his Koga style mop skills, but in the end the major battling arena was far from immaculate, and still had cracks and potholes. Pidgeot helped coil up the dangling wires and at least keep those out of the way. Exeggutor and Machamp and Tyranitar helped lug buckets of stale water from the mini pond and water the plants outside with it.

844. office: a duty or function assigned to someone

The time was 8:28 when the team finally got down to practice and warm up tricky moves. Green pondered the downsides to half-intentionally losing. The top priority would be avoiding media attention, which also meant not hiring a psychic. Therefore, he'd have Exeggutor work on the barrier. There was absolutely no way he was going to allow Umbreon to battle, so it'd be a five pokemon battle. His pokemon were also not in tip-top shape; they were getting on in their years, and the battle with Gold had been extremely taxing. All in all, It wasn't the best conditions for a battle.

His office as gym leader was not necessarily to win, but to give approval to strong trainers. He could lose in grace – of course he'd still put up a good fight, but with such skewed circumstances, he didn't want to push his pokemon much more.

845. repository: a place where things are kept for safekeeping

In his battling years, he might have spent the whole hour practicing like crazy, but seeing Arcanine puff and breathe heavily after just a tiny flamethrower, he decided to call off practice after fifty minutes, leaving ten minutes for a break. His trainers also relaxed to take a quick break. Each team member, both human and pokemon, collapsed onto the ground.

They were startled when a certain redhead swung open the door. Green flicked on the special light, and then went to the repository and pocketed a badge from the hefty box of them.

846. verdant: green (lolwut)

Silver was struggling to retain his dignity as he was sent careening and spinning around by the booby traps, and he glared murderously at Green after a particularly long spin. Green awkwardly smiled back before strolling back to his office to stare at the happy, verdant trees swaying quietly outdoors.

Judging by the fact that Silver avoided all the trainers except the twins (they were positioned so people could not pass without battling them), the redhead had probably studied up on the gym layout to prepare.

847. incite: to provoke and urge on; to encourage to act, especially in a hostile action

When Silver reached the destruction that was the arena, he deadpanned. Green offered the customary handshake, but Silver just stared at him. "_What the flying fuck_ happened here?"

Green sniffed (no handshake?). "Your boyfriend happened."

If anything, that was the key phrase to incite an explosion from Silver. "Oh my freaking Arceus, he is _not_ my boyfriend, I don't care what you've seen or heard cause that's all him and none of me. You know what? Let's get this over with quickly before Gold comes back to crack lewd jokes."

848. indisposed: slightly ill; unwilling

Green raised an eyebrow. "Where is he? I thought he was your number one fan."

Silver grimaced. "I told him to go get fresh shellder meat and make congratulatory sashimi or something stupid and kind of time consuming, but I was half kidding and _I think he's serious._ I thought as a breeder, he'd be like, I don't know, vegan, but he's seriously in Pallet Town right now fishing for shellder, and with that insane luck of his he'll probably be back in an hour or so."

"…ok then." Green was quite indisposed to an intense, drawn out battle too.

The two trainers walked to opposite corners of the arena, and Green released Exeggutor. The tree-like psychic pokemon lumbered off the arena and quickly constructed a dome-like barrier encasing the area.

Green watched the hole at the top of the dome slowly be covered up, and then raised his left hand, with three fingers extended. "Ready?"

Silver nodded.

Green prepared to throw out his first pokemon. He could at least look good if he wasn't going to fight well. "3…2… 1!" A flash of red light, and the first players on the stage.

849. inveterate: established for a long time; habitual

Machamp grunted and backed off immediately upon seeing Crobat. Green had sent out Machamp to deal with the weavile he saw earlier, but he'd ended up with a pretty bad match up…

When Green had gotten lost on Mt. Silver (and almost died), Machamp had one time been his companion in the caves, and after a little run-in with the golbats they'd both emerged emotionally scarred. Zubats are scary too.

Although Green had kind of gotten over it, Machamp was having difficulty listening to Green's instructions in his panic – instead of throwing rocks, he was trying to punch the elusive pokemon, and simply getting a faceful of gusts and wing attacks and air slashes. He'd reverted to the inveterate habits Green had struggled to train him out of to fight back against flying types, and Green could only shout to deaf ears as Machamp was slowly worn down.

850. husband: to use sparingly; to conserve

Green then sent out Gyarados, before realizing how much difficulty the serpentine pokemon would have moving on the rough terrain. He face palmed, and Gyarados groaned. The massive serpent coiled up, enduring attacks and husbanding energy to wait for the right moment to attack.

However, Crobat was keeping a safe distance, and finally Gyarados became frustrated enough to make a massive leap and take down the poisonous bat. However, on his fall down back to the arena ground, he landed on an upturned tile and got a big whack in the stomach, and both pokemon were knocked out.


	86. Chapter 86

holy shiet why is it so hard to get time i hate school

expect much slower updates sorry!

Actually nah I don't hate school I just hate spending time on stuff I don't really care about

* * *

851. admonish: to warn so a fault can be corrected or a danger avoided

Green recalled Gyarados, who probably had a nasty bruise forming on his belly. Silver recalled Crobat, and instead of admonishing the bat for becoming over confident and flying too close, the red head whispered a thanks and a congratulations before sending out Gengar.

Both Green and Arcanine furrowed their eyebrows at Gengar's strange laugh. Arcanine looked creeped out, but Green reassured him with "It's just a gengar, we saw a lot of 'em with Agatha right?" and then muttered, "Distract with flamethrower, then crunch."

852. commute: to change a punishment to one less severe

Well, Arcanine might have been disturbed, but Green was trying to mask a laugh with a confused face. Which ended up looking kind of weird. But if anything, he was amused, not scared.

He'd confessed his fear of ghosts to his grandfather after the professor berated him for leaving all the lights on in the lab after watching a particularly frightening movie with Red (this was when they were kids and Red still hugged Green when either was scared). And then Gramps had implanted into his head this idea that gengar were just clefables dressing up for Halloween; the idea was so absurd and obviously fake that Green started laughing, because that was the first time Gramps had told him anything amusing or even close to a fairy tale.

Green would have laughed at Arcanine, but he decided to commute the punishment from humiliation in front of Silver to pokemon fairytale story time that night.

853. meager: lacking in quantity or vigor; scanty

In a clean, open arena, Gengar's chances at sneaking around would be meager. On the other hand, with the upturned debris and bad lighting, almost the entire arena was cast in long shadows. That kind of shady environment was any gengar's playground, and Silver's was having the time of his life, jumping in and out of shadows just to see if Arcanine would notice.

Once Gengar got bored and decided to land a hit, he found himself caught in Arcanine's crushing jaws. Unfortunately for Silver, Green had had plenty of experience and had mastered how to not be afraid of giggling maniacs.

854. disparage: to speak in a disapproving or slighting manner

Arcanine crunched down on Gengar, who screamed before fainting. Arcanine dropped the inert body, which Silver then recalled.

Silver then sent out Weavile, and Green looked on in mild surprise. An ice-type? He motioned to Arcanine to make a flamethrower – no mercy if Silver was going to make silly mistakes. Was Silver disparaging him or something? Or was it a trick?

855. neural: pertaining to a nerve, the nervous system, or the brain

Arcanine sluggishly backed off, and prepared to launch a flamethrower. Green scratched his head upon seeing the canine sway unsteadily, as if the neural connections weren't functioning. Paralysis? He watched Arcanine grow slower and slower while dodging kicks and punches. …Shit, poison.

856. refuse: garbage

Weavile jumped and span and spirited back and forth, here and there to stall for time and wait for the poison to knock Arcanine out. The speed at which she moved was almost mind boggling, and at times it seemed as though there were multiple of her.

Arcanine landed one of eight flamethrowers. Weavile jumped back, her short black fur singed and barely hanging on, but she had done her job – Arcanine passed out from intoxication. No, not the alcoholic kind (although Gengar had been reported to enjoy breaking into wineries).

857. prosperity: wealth; good fortune

Green still had Pidgeot and Tyranitar left, but even the two of them seemed far from an adequate challenge when faced by Feraligatr. To sum up the last unceremonious part of the battle: Feraligatr froze Pidgeot out of the sky and blasted Tyranitar unconscious with a jet of water.

Green sighed as he walked to the center of the gym. Exeggutor lumbered after him, muttering something incoherently, presumably about how he would've knocked out Feraligatr with a solar beam. As Green handed over the bundle of reward money and the badge, he wondered how his bank account was doing. He really needed and wanted that job at Devon…

858. engulf: to swallow up; overwhelm

Silver accepted the badge, but not the money. He stared past Green at Exeggutor. "You… didn't even use your full team?"

"Yes?"

"And your team was still not at top shape 'cause of Gold?"

"…Yes?"

Silver groaned. "Dear Arceus, and this is already my second battle with you!" Silver shook his head in frustration, but Green was watching the strange spike of hair sticking out of Silver's head with amusement.

"Yep."

"…I'll take the badge for now, but I demand a rematch when you're going to respect me and my pokemon by using your full power."

Up to that point, Green had kind of placidly been letting Silver's words go in one ear and out the other, but the phrase "respect me" struck a chord. It was awfully reminiscent of Gramps' advice: always go all out in battles, respect the your pokemon and your opponent's, remember safety over victory, and learn from loss. The weight of Silver's words engulfed Green for a moment, and he snapped out of his absent-minded daze.

859. saturate: to soak or fill to capacity

"…Okay and sorry. Sorry. I didn't really prepare for this battle and this morning I was rushing to get things together and-" No excuses. "Sorry."

Silver glared for a moment, but his gaze softened momentarily. "Apology accepted. No more talk about Gold's perception of me though."

Green turned to recall Exeggutor and rubbed his sweaty palms on his jeans. Heck, he wasn't even nervous but his hands were saturated with sweat. "Dang. Ok, but why?"

860. invalidate: to cancel; deprive of legal importance; nullify

"…He loves me but I… I don't know. I know I like him but I don't know if he just loves me and stalks me 'cause he pities me. D'you know Giovanni?"

Green looked up at Silver's strangely familiar eyes. "Yeah."

"He was my father. Note the past tense, I disowned him. If that's possible."

Green stared at the gray eyes. Besides the eyes there was little resemblance; Silver's figure was lean and thin as opposed to Giovanni's bulky figure. "Uh… wow. He raised a kid?"

"No." Silver walked off the arena, and Green followed. The other trainers made way for the two as Green deactivated the traps and they walked out. Silver kept his eyes focused on the ground in front of him as he talked. "He didn't raise me. He dropped me off in an orphanage."

"Oh. With Leaf, right?"

"Yeah. That invalidates any rights he has as a father."


	87. Chapter 87

aaah i dont think i can finish this before my exam at this rate

crapcrapcrap

...

well

i guess that's ok

ill do my best

* * *

861. wreak: to inflict; to cause (something bad)

Green soldiered on in the conversation. "My parents ditched me too." If Silver wanted to talk about sensitive things, ok?

Silver laughed. A forced, horribly fake laugh. "You had your grandfather. The orphanage was a training school for _criminals_. Assassins. Robbers." Green glanced over, and saw Silver's eyebrows knotted in disgust, anger, and hate. Silver rubbed his temples and sighed. "You grew up with family, real family."

Green could detect an impending argument – he hoped it wouldn't wreak havoc on their acquaintance-ship (not quite friendship yet?). "And you didn't?"

862. auditory: relating to the sense of hearing

Silver deadpanned. They had been walking quickly to the Pokecenter, but Silver abruptly stopped to look up from the ground and stare into Green with his piercing gray eyes. "You had family that loved you. Friends that trusted you. And you had something you wanted to do. A personal goal. For us, everything was predetermined." His voice, ever increasing in volume and intensity, suddenly dropped to a whisper. "Everything." He quickly looked back down, and started walking again.

Green was not about to back down. He jogged a little and fell back in pace with Silver's strides. "Do you regret being with Leaf?"

"No-" Silver gritted his teeth. "You don't understand what I mean. You don't-" He sighed, but clammed up when the familiar red roof drew into view and a certain teenager with a backwards yellow and black cap waved at them. Green was inclined to push for a response, but with Gold's auditory abilities he was unsure if Silver wanted such sensitive topics brought up.

863. muse: to meditate; to consider thoughtfully

Gold ran over to them, and glomped Silver. Green backed off, and mused the outcome of him doing something similar to Red. Red didn't like touching people very much – he didn't say anything but Green had noticed a lot of things while staying with (poking and bothering) Red. Strange thing was, Red had been a very touchy-feely kid that used to hug more and talk less, but now he just didn't hug or talk. Green assumed it was from the Rocket incident.

864. disdain: a feeling of contempt

Red, stupid as always, had infiltrated and destroyed the Rockets at Silph. However, he didn't emerge unscathed – a particularly violent grunt had seized him by the throat and tried to choke him, presumably after losing in a battle. When Green met up with Red, he could clearly see the finger shaped bruises around his neck, and although he may have not seen or heard anything from Red it was easy to deduce the cause.

After battling Giovanni and collapsing in the office, Green had barged in and carried an unconscious Red to the Pokecenter. On his way out of the building, Green disdainfully poked a man that'd been fried to oblivion by Pikachu (hopefully the grunt that'd choked Red), and hoped Red was ok.

865. grovel: to beg; to lower oneself to please another

Besides some groveling or unconscious grunts, the building had been entirely evacuated, and Green slowly trudged along to the Pokecenter with Red on his back. Green took all the pokeballs to Nurse Joy and went into the human injury department to get a check up on Red.

Red has sustained no permanent damage except for bruises on his wrists, his ribs, and his throat. Green passed a couple days sitting next to Red's hospital bed and providing updates on his pokemon's condition. Red didn't speak a word – partially because he didn't want to, but mostly because he couldn't.

866. delegate: to entrust to another person

Red's mom came hurrying into the hospital room on the second day, and Green delegated himself as the Red translator. Green had had quite a lot of fun creating a sign language with Red, since neither knew the actual signs. The conversations had not been particularly memorable – all Green remembered was that it was a lot of fretting over Red and reassurances from the doctor.

867. retrospect: the consideration of past events

In retrospect, Green realized he'd not understood the significance of a lot of little things he'd observed. Red had started shaking uncontrollably when Green seized his hand after they first exchanged pleasantries in their made-up sign language. Back then, Green had dismissed it as strange laughter, but thinking back there was no way that Red's wide open, moistening eyes and colorless cheeks could have been anything but fear.

868. utopia: an ideally perfect place

Red had overcome a lot of his fears, but was a long way from snuggling. Unlike Gold, who had picked Silver up off the ground and was trying to spin in a circle. Silver was as stiff as a rock, and just stiffened, blushed until his face was glowing red, and held onto Gold's head for dear life. Of course, doing so blinded Gold, and the two of them crashed to the ground in a giggling and mock-scowling heap.

Giovanni had been trying to create his own dark utopia, and had abused Silver and given him a horrible life. However, seeing the redhead blush until the color of his cheeks rivalled that of his hair, it was evident that Gold really could make Silver happy.

Green interrupted their flirting. "You two are really cute and all, but I have to get home soon to make sure my house guest – oh whatever, she's Latias – has eaten something. If I don't remember to get her food, she'll just sleep on through and then I feel bad."

869. ponder: to think over with great care

Silver jabbed Gold in the stomach. "We do NOT look cute!" Gold laughed and wrapped his arms around Silver's waist. No deep pondering could change Green's conclusion. They were completely fit for each other.

870. intervene: to come between two things

Green felt out of place, intervening in their… bonding time, and walked through the Pokecenter's double doors to get a spot in the line. Silver walked in a couple minutes later, face still flushed and hair mussed up.

"You look like you just had sex," Green casually noted, before smiling at the nurse and handing over his pokeballs.


	88. Chapter 88

Wow I just noticed I hit the 100k mark woot

VERY SORRY I missed three days! Tbh im starting to lose motivation, but ill fight to at least 1000.

* * *

871. ineffable: incapable of being expressed

Silver apparently had not realized that appearing in a public building in a hot mess was not a good idea. When Green mentioned so, Silver flushed and punched Green in the stomach. Hard. Green spluttered, but it was worth it – it was nice not being the blushing idiot sometimes.

Silver handed over his pokeballs to the nurse and then excused himself roughly to go the bathroom. Green shrugged and walked out of the building. Gold was lying spread-eagled on the sidewalk.

"Greeeeen?" Gold turned an unnaturally reddened cheek to face Green. "Silver's such a tsundere… He slapped me…"

Green walked over and sat on Gold's stomach. The younger kid, made an oomph, but Green was amazed by how he didn't complain about his weight, but about Silver. "Silver baby doesn't understand that even if he thinks love is ineffable, all you need is a couple hugs and anybody'll understand…"

872. imposing: impressive by virtue of size, power, or manner

Green pursed his lips. "Nah, it doesn't work like that for everybody."

Gold narrowed his eyes and smirked. "Red isn't the snuggling type?"

Green bounced on Gold's stomach, and the boy gasped. "Ok ok you could have just said no! You may be light but bro, bouncing on my beautiful, imposing abs is not comfy."

873. vanguard: the leading position in an army or fleet; the leading position in a movement or trend

Green deadpanned. "I have never heard anybody ever call their own muscles imposing."

Gold rolled over, forcing Green to stand up. He patted off his clothes and then posed dramatically. "Well you just did. I am, of course, the vanguard of style and coolness."

Green covered his eyes. "You have got to be the most embarrassing person I know."

Gold bowed. "I'm honored."

"You're an idiot."

874. calamity: an event causing extreme trouble and misery

Silver tried to sneak out of the Pokecenter without being noticed by Gold, but his red hair and black clothes gave him away easily. Gold grabbed Silver and Green, linked elbows, and started marching off to Green's apartment with the other two in tow – Green on the left, Silver on the right. Green tried to wriggle out of it, but Gold had surprisingly strong arms. Green looked over Gold's head at Silver, who was trying to twist Gold's arm but was instead twisting his own.

Somehow the three made it to Green's apartment without anything calamitous like dislocated shoulders could happen. When they barged in, Latias looked up over the sofa curiously, and then laid back down to sleep.

875. irony: a use of words in which the intended meaning is very different from the literal sense; an incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs, especially one that suggests a lesson about human folly

Green dug out an old board game, and for the rest of the day they played very much so uncensored Monopoly. They eventually got to screaming obscenities at each other (well, Latias meekly sat on the side, quietly moving her own game piece). When they finally called quits around five, Gold had won nearly everything with his insane luck, and Silver was second (oh the irony), with Latias in third and Green in last.

876. ingenuous: innocent; naïve

Gold got to decide where to eat as the winner, but he insisted on Silver cooking. Silver agreed reluctantly after some urging from Latias (at least Gold had made a fairly ingenuous request, it could have been a whole lot dirtier) and he nervously walked around in the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and looking around for familiar foods he could work with.

877. meritorious: deserving reward or praise

Green got bored of watching Silver cut carrots, so he tidied up the little pieces from the board game and got to work on some seriously overdue laundry and vacuuming. The apartment was in uproar with the sound of the kitchen fan, the growling of the laundry machine, and the roaring of the vacuum. Latias flew onto the roof to get some peace, and Gold plugged his ears and hid in the bathroom.

An hour later, Silver went around screaming for people to shut everything off and get to the dinner table, and they eventually assembled around the dinner table. There was a large plate of fried rice at the center of the table, and although Green was not impressed, Gold found it meritorious and hogged about half the plate.

878. prodigy: one with exceptional talents

The evening passed quickly, and Green pulled out the fluffy blankets from the dryer and draped them over the sofas. He then started packing food and clothes and prepared to stop by the Pokemart to stock up on potions and prepare for the trip up the mountain the next day.

On his way, Green pondered the chances of Gold's victory. Red had the overwhelming advantage in experience, but then again Gold's whole prodigiousness lay in his ability to use unconventional techniques to surprise the opponent.

879. fidelity: strict faithfulness to vows or promises; exact correspondence with fact

The skies were darkening rapidly, and one by one, the street lamps flickered on. As Green rounded the corner, the familiar neon blue lights of the Pokemart appeared. The sliding doors hummed as he stepped in, and the cashier looked up and waved.

Green waved back and picked up a basket and swept a shelf of hyper potions into his basket. He then scooped up a couple full heals and plopped the basket on the check-out counter. Although most battlers liked to stock up on full restores, he personally preferred hyper potions since they were a good deal cheaper.

The cashier looked at the basket, and then punched in the sum. "That will be 22 hyper potions and 7 full heals, would you like anything else?"

Green marveled at the fidelity with which the cashier counted the potions. "Nope."

She dumped the potions into two plastic bags. "Do you have your gym leader ID with you?"

880. primeval: relating to the beginning of the first world ages

Green rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his wallet. He handed over the card, grimacing at his picture. He was usually ok with taking pictures, being fairly photogenic, but somehow his pictures never turned out quite right in ID cards. In this particular photo he was wearing the primeval sweater Gramps had gotten him for his birthday, and had quite the forced smile.

The cashier's mouth twitched upwards. "Alright, that's a 30% discount. 21420 pokedollars please."

Green sucked in a breath and shakily handed over his credit card. He had one more week before he left for Hoenn… Maybe in Hoenn he could go around battling and build up his bank account…


	89. Chapter 89

I got a review I love you

Yeah my writing speed has fallen off a cliff with school kicking in oops

* * *

881. verisimilitude: resemblance to the truth

Green walked out of the Pokemart trying to recall the last time he'd been in a monetary pinch. Red probably had a pretty amazing bank account – Gold and Silver probably did too. Green pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did he take it upon himself to buy potions?

When he came back home, Gold was sitting cross-legged with Latias in the living room. He was teaching Latias how to play a card game, using crackers as some kind of playing chips (Gold had dipped them into plates with varying condiments to differentiate the chips – the verisimilitude was wanting). Green could hear the shower running, so Silver was probably getting ready for sleeping early for the hike tomorrow morning.

The brunet walked over and squatted down beside the other two to check out the card game. Gold looked up to say hi, and while he wasn't looking, Latias grabbed a couple of Gold's poker chip-crackers and ate them. Green smirked.

882. rout: an overwhelming defeat; a disorderly retreat or flight following a defeat; to defeat overwhelmingly

Gold waved his card hand. "I'm teaching her poker."

Green laughed. "You sure she isn't teaching you? Looks as if you're the one that's facing a rout."

Gold whipped his head around to check his poker chips. "No way! I swear I had more red crackers a second ago!" He lifted the pillow that was on his lap, and looked around in confusion. Green winked at Latias, who giggled.

883. presumptuous: excessively forward or overconfident

Green shook his head at Gold. "Tsk tsk. Never be presumptuous when teaching psychics how to gamble, eh? Not the best move."

Gold slapped his forehead. "Oh yeah! No wonder! She can read my mind!" Green snorted. Gold alternated between being frighteningly perceptive and astoundingly dense – his skill and talent in battling didn't seem to stretch over into his day to day interactions.

Latias pouted. "I wasn't using psychic powerrs though…"

Green stood up slowly. "Mhm, just eating his crackers with ninja psychic skills."

884. translucent: letting light through, but no visual details

Green flicked Gold on the forehead. "You need to get some sleep 'cause we're leaving early tomorrow morning so we can find a good place for you and Red to battle without stirring up the wild rapidash. Don't need any avalanches burying us alive."

Gold put aside his cards and rubbed his forehead. "Geez… ok fine. Is Silver coming with us?"

Green shrugged. "Sure. But I don't think you two should battle on the same day 'cause that's unfair to Red." He glanced at Latias. "Do you want to go?"

She tilted her head, shut her eyes in concentration (a translucent pink bubble formed between her ears, she was thinking that hard), and then slowly shook her head. "I'm not very good with cold weatherr."

Green pursed his lips. "Hm. I'll make a lot of rice in the morning. Do you mind having soup tomorrow? I'll start boiling it now, and just keep it on low fire all day tomorrow."

885. defunct: having ceased to exist or live

She nodded. "What kind?"

Gold looked up from putting the deck of cards back together. "Kalosian onion soup! That stuff's really good!"

Green walked over to the refrigerator, and opened the doors to look for ingredients. "That actually… should be fine."

Latias nodded, and Gold cheered. "Heck yeah! Oh, by the way, can I borrow your phone charger?" He waved his defunct device, and Green recognized the brand.

886. jetsam: cargo or equipment thrown overboard to lighten a ship in distress; discarded material washed ashore

"Sure. I think mine's the same type so the charger should work. But hurry up and shower and go to sleep – why is Silver taking so long?"

"Dunno. I'll go check!" Gold jumped up, tossed the pack of cards onto the coffee table, and then skipped to the bathroom. Green walked back over to set aside all the crackers on one plate and to carry the other dirty dishes to the sink. He lamented the mess the living room had become yet again, looking as if the flotsam and jetsam of some ship carrying pillows and blankets had landed in his apartment. The laundry he'd just done a couple hours before was yet again strewn across the carpet. He sighed.

When he was home alone, he usually left his kitchen sink half full of water so that the stains on the soaking pots and pans would wear off easier – he raised an eyebrow upon seeing the sink devoid of dishes from dinner. Well, Green thought as he plopped down another stack of plates in the sink, Gold could wash the other plates too.

887. embellish: to decorate; to add ornamental or fictitious details to

Green wiped his hands on a towel, and then started walking back to his room when there was an ear piercing scream. He ran over to the bathroom, and saw Gold knocked out against the wall, his nose running. Silver was breathing heavily, half naked, embellished with nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist. Green would have laughed at the scenario, but he then saw numerous scars running along Silver's arms and back.

888. malicious: spiteful

Silver turned frightened eyes to Green. "I- I didn't want him to see, um, I- well, I don't care if you see but I just didn't want _him_ to know, you know, uh-"

Green grabbed a couple pieces of toilet paper and wiped Gold's bloody nose, and then plugged it. He kept his eyes on Gold's chest, watching for breathing, before sighing and facing Silver. "I know it wasn't malicious. But do you really think he'll hate you because of those?"

889. acquiesce: to agree without protest

Silver shuddered. "Th-these are so _disgusting_, they'll never go away, they just remind me over and over again of the orphanage and Giovanni and-"

"It's Gold. He loves you."

Silver's rosy cheeks from the shower turned even redder. He looked away and acquiesced quietly. "Yeah."

890. gambit: a calculated, risky opening move

"Apologize when he wakes up. Actually, he's at fault too – did he just barge into the bathroom earlier?"

Silver nodded.

"Agh…" Green hauled Gold up. "Stupid kid, you'd think he'd plan a better gambit with his funny tactics in battling."

Silver nodded again. Green excused himself and dragged Gold to the living room, where Latias raised an eyebrow and immediately set to checking for a pulse or for abnormalities. After a couple minutes, she relaxed. Green thanked her before walking back to the bathroom to brush his teeth and prepare for sleep. Silver awkwardly stood by flossing, and then bowed before stepping out.

Green shrugged, and went through the daily routine of brushing and flossing and face washing. Tomorrow would be the big battle between Gold and Red.


	90. Chapter 90

aah

what happened to daily updates T-T

im sorry

but i love reviews

they unfortunately dont give me more time to write faster

but they do make me very happy and happiness is motivation :)

* * *

891. pretext: an excuse; a strategy intended to conceal something

Green woke up to his phone buzzing. Blearily opening an eye, he glanced at the window curtains – as far as he could tell, it was still dark outside, and thus an inhumane hour to be receiving phone calls. He answered the insistent buzzing.

"Hello?"

"Green! You finally picked up!"

Green sat up and rubbed his eyes with his left hand. "Leaf. It's 3:30 AM."

"Hey! I was supposed to get to Kanto last night but my plane got delayed, and I landed just an hour ago and well, I just wanted to let you know I'm ok."

Green sighed. "Ok. Can I sleep now?"

Leaf snorted. "You know what? I bet you totally forgot I was even coming over."

Green had no pretext to cover that truth up. "Mhm."

892. endorse: to give approval or support to

"You really forgot? You little sonuva-" Green leaned away from the speaker as a string of curse words flew out. After he heard the angry buzzing die down, he put the speaker back to his ear.

"Uh, sorry." Green tried to convince his brain to think of something else to say. "…I'm a little preoccupied, you see, Gold's challenging Red tomorrow."

There was silence on the other side of the phone – Green double checked to see if Leaf was still listening. After a long pause, she whispered in a subdued voice. "I don't know if I want Red to win or not. Of course, he should win. But I just want him to come down."

Green felt his heart squeeze a little. "Yeah." He'd endorse any way to get Red down the mountain.

893. flotsam: wreckage of a ship or its cargo floating on the sea

Leaf sighed. "I'm really glad my stay was short this time – the clue for the ruins was actually just flotsam from a shipwreck." She paused. "When are you leaving to go up the mountain? Gold is with you, right?"

"We're leaving at 5:30. We, as in me and Gold and Silver."

"Ok." She hummed across the line. "I think I'll fly straight to the bottom of the mountain then. Meet you at 6?"

"Ugh. Ok, whatever." He groaned. "You know, if I fall back asleep now I might just not wake up for another twelve and something hours."

"What happened to the legendary Oak insomnia, eh?"

"Got over that ages ago. By the way, if you get to a PC box, see if you have anybody that can help set up barriers. Exeggutor does a pretty good job but, well, you never know."

894. recalcitrant: marked by stubborn defiance of authority or guidance

"Ok, ok. Why don't you go and watch the sunrise or something, it'll make today feel even more epic."

Green face palmed. "Seriously? Nah, I'm going to try to sleep another hour, you can go ahead and take pictures of the sunrise for me or something. … G'night."

"Fine then. Good morning." She sniffed.

Green snorted and then ended the call.

He drew open the curtains so as to see if the sun had started lightening up just yet. The sky was still an inky, navy blue, with no hints of sunrise quite yet. He could clearly remember how, on graduation day, all the graduates had sneaked onto the school library's roof to watch the sunrise. Of course, just to be a little more recalcitrant, the students had made sure no teachers were present – the graduates designed and tied a banner to the flagpole while waiting for the sun to rise. The whole setup and excitement about breaking the rules had been a whole lot more interesting than the actual sunrise (clouds along the horizon made the dramatic event quite boring, if not depressing).

895. gingerly: very carefully, cautiously

Green gingerly leaned on the narrow windowsill, making sure not to disturb the little pots of cacti. Outside, the street lamps glowed and flickered, scattering warm, golden light all over the streets and apartments and houses. A couple stars and a lot of airplanes could be seen twinkling in the dark blue sky.

896. discrete: individually distinct or separate

Finding nothing unusual, Green decided to flop back onto bed. Although he'd be delighted and excited to see something odd or suspicious or interesting, it was also quite nice to simply have everything be peaceful.

3:40 AM is a mysterious, almost magical time of day – it is when it the normally discrete night and day mixes into really really late night and really really early morning. Green made sure his phone's volume was on maximum and decided to catch an extra couple hours before having to wake up.

897. prevaricate: to speak or write evasively in order to avoid telling the truth

5:00 AM came a whole lot earlier than he would have liked, and his alarm sharply jarred him awake. He rubbed his eyes and looked out the still window to see still dark skies.

Green took a little sadistic pleasure in jerking the blankets of off Gold, who was happily hugging Silver. The sudden drop in temperature made Gold squeeze Silver even tighter, causing the redhead to groan in discomfort, wake up, and bop the other on the head in an attempt to escape.

Gold nursed a bump on his head. "I've been getting hit by you non-stop – is this going to be our kinda thing?"

Silver flicked him on the forehead and moved away.

Green began folding the blankets he'd snatched. He looked over at the two. "I'm assuming you two cleared up what happened in the bathroom last night? No prevarication or awkward topic avoiding right? Or did Gold not wake up?"

898. prodigious: wonderful; amazing; very big

"Pshaw." Gold sniffed. "He didn't even hit me that hard. We talked about it and stuff so yeah."

Silver slowly nodded.

Gold laughed. "Basically I love him. That was it."

The redhead, still in an early morning daze, blushed and covered his face wordlessly.

Green plopped the folded blankets down on the sofa. Satisfied with his handiwork, he turned to face the two boys. "Ok. Pack your stuff, we're leaving in half an hour."

Silver rolled his eyes, and Gold called out in monotone, "Ok mom," before narrowly dodging a flying pillow from Green. Thus ensued a pillow fight, and each employed his own prodigious pillow battling skills, which involved rapid firing small pillows or simply going for a good, solid whack.

899. impregnable: invincible; unconquerable

Although chaotic, it was fought in near silence except for chuckling and whumping of pillows. After a good five minutes, the three were spread-eagled on the carpet, breathing hard. Latias yawned and peeked out from her cocoon of blankets, and squawked at the state of disarray. Green and Gold and Silver started laughing again, this time at the squawk, and after finally calming himself, Green noted the time and hurried to the kitchen.

Green got to work making breakfast, and the other two boys packed their few belongings and then proceeded to build a castle from tables and chairs and blankets and pillows. It was far from the impregnable fortress Green and Red had constructed in the Oak laboratory, but Green smiled fondly at the attempt. And then he kicked it over and handed them each an omelet.

900. modulate: to adjust or regulate

At 5:40 AM the three waved to Latias before stepping out the door into the dark sky. Preliminary tinges of blue were appearing over the horizon, but it was still a long ways from sunrise. Pidgeot, Crobat, and Togekiss chattered to each other as their respective owners prepared to make the flight west. For the humans, after modulating their eyes to the dark, it wasn't too hard to see. Green and Pidgeot took off first, followed by Crobat and Togekiss, and they zipped on over Route 22 and the Indigo Plateau to the tiny, run down Pokecenter at the base of Mt. Silver.

Leaf, who had been waiting by the window, came running out and seized Silver in a crushing hug before patting Green and Gold on the head. The flying pokemon were recalled, and Green switched on his flashlight and led the way through the tortuous caverns.


	91. Chapter 91

slow updates are slow :(

You bend air

I bend science

Mostly cos im not very good at it

* * *

901. megalomania: a condition marked by delusional fantasies of power, wealth, or omnipotence

The flashlight proved to be both a blessing and a curse –while it lit up the way decently, it also stirred up a lot of wild pokemon. After numerous visits, the wild pokemon had begun to ignore Green, but they weren't so forgiving as to let a group of blundering humans come crashing through their territory. The main source of the noise was Gold, and time and time after again, golbats would descend to swipe at them.

Eventually, Green resorted to intimidation techniques and released Tyranitar to keep the wild pokemon at bay. The wild pokemon stopped bothering them after that, and the five navigated across subterranean lakes, waterfalls, and rocky climbs undeterred.

After over an hour of darkness, Green spied the morning rays streaming through the first floor exit. The cave's complex layout led climbers in and out of the caves, alternately navigating complex, shadowy mazes and climbing steep slopes on the mountainside. The group walked single file out of the cave, and relished the beauty of sunrise. Although morning fog still covered much of the surrounding mountains, lowering visibility greatly, the majesty of the rising sun was still impressive.

Every time Green climbed Mt. Silver, he got a better understanding of how megalomaniacs of ancient empires were inspired to construct massive castles and private residences in such hostile territories. There was a kind of magnificence in the sheer size and colossus of a mountain, a kind of sense of power over the surroundings.

902. ingenious: inventive, cunning, clever

They took a short break, basking in early morning sunlight in the short grass and admiring the scenery. There was sparse vegetation and whipping cold winds, but somehow cold sunlight and chilly breezes proved far more encouraging than stagnant cave air.

Leaf lined up the three boys for a group picture, and then after taking turns grimacing at their lack of photogenic-ness, they filed back in the cavern to continue the journey up.

Luckily, the rest of the way up was not so mentally exhausting as it was physically taxing. The ingeniously constructed paths in the caverns made Mt. Silver fairly easy to navigate once familiar, but such ease and speed in climbing also caused altitude sickness. Green and Leaf had long since become accustomed to the effects of climbing up and down, but Gold and Silver had a tougher time adapting.

903. grudge: to be reluctant to give or admit

In some time long ago, the ancients had been mesmerized by mountains and constructed their citadels and castles in the peaks. Nearly all of the major mountains in the world had shown similar trends – besides the more modern tunnels, the interior caverns often appeared riddled with ancient paths. Eventually, they'd been forced to evacuate and settle lands of milder climates due to extreme weather, but they left behind marvelously constructed paths that, in some cases, drastically increased the ease with which one could traverse to the top.

Green was speedily walking the spiraling slopes, shining his flashlight over the walls, admiring the architectural wonders. Leaf kept up fairly easily (she claimed that in the urban areas of Unova, people had been proven to walk almost two times faster than the average person). Gold looked a little nauseous, but he forced a smile when Leaf asked how he felt. However, Silver eventually grudgingly admitted that he needed to slow down.

904. concurrent: happening at the same time; acting together

Gold concurrently exclaimed his exhaustion, and Green and Leaf looked at each other. It was drawing towards late morning, and the longer they were trudging along the frigid pathways, the colder they would get. Green shrugged.

905. mesmerize: to hypnotize or spellbind

Leaf sighed. "We can slow down, but we have to keep going. Neither of you dressed very well for the cold, and I want you two sitting by a fire as soon as possible."

Green nodded. "I think I almost caught hypothermia the first time I came up the mountain."

"Um, ok?" Gold scratched his head and wiped off some sweat from his nose. "Are we almost there?" He blinked and then ruffled Silver's hair when they asked the question in unison. Silver elbowed Gold and struggled to get his hair back in order.

"When we round the corner you'll be able to see some light from outside – we have to go out and around a little bit in the snow and then we'll be there." Green turned to keep walking.

"Whaaat? How soon is tha- Whoooa…" As predicted, a blindingly bright ray of sunlight pierced the shadowy darkness as they proceeded forward. Gold gasped, mesmerized, before running ahead of Green and Leaf.

906. convalesce: to recover from illness; to recuperate

Silver had been half-squatting with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily, trying to convalesce. But when he saw the light, he too was compelled to summon more energy to escape to the bright white outside.

Green and Leaf exited the cavern to find Gold and Silver lying on the snow, huffing and puffing and laughing all the while. Leaf snapped a photo, and Green rolled his eyes.

907. implore: to ask for urgently; to beg

"C'mon guys, I thought you were tired…"

"Oh my Arceus, yeah I'm exhausted! But dude, I haven't seen snow since like, I dunno, forever!" Gold rolled over, packed together a nice, slushy snowball, and then aimed at Green.

The snowball hit Leaf instead – and her competitive-rage-mode switch flipped on. Green implored for them to stop, but he was ignored, and the place quickly became a battlefield.

908. incandescent: shining; glowing from within

Green sighed, and slipped away to avoid stray snowballs. Although the sun was out and shining, and the sky was a gloriously clear blue, it was still _freaking_ _cold_. They were only about half an hour away from Red's cave, and yet they faced another delay.

He recalled Tyranitar and released Arcanine, and instructed the canine to blaze out a path so that the others would know how to follow. The pokemon loyally blasted the snow away to make walking easier, and soon, Green spied the incandescent glow of the fire from Red's cave.

909. rhapsody: state of great happiness; such a state expressed in speech or writing

Green's toes were freezing and his fingers were numb, but upon seeing the destination, his body felt the familiar surge of excitement, and he impatiently urged his legs to move faster. Arcanine bounded ahead, and Green let out all his pokemon so they could collectively storm the cave.

They ran half screaming into the cave, only to be greeted by a non-plussed Pikachu. Green's rhapsody screeched to a halt.

910. penitent: feeling regret

"Where's Red?"

"Pika." The yellow mouse slowly walked over to Red's bed (gigantic pile of blankets). Green jogged a little into the deeper end of the cave, following the mouse in a state of confusion.

That confusion quickly became fear as he spied Red's messy hair poking out from the bundle of blankets he was buried under. He shook Red's shoulders.

No response.

Green tore the blankets off Red (he couldn't even see Red's face for Arceus' sake), whacking Pikachu in the process (he could be penitent later). Red made a small noise of discontent and curled up into fetal position in the sudden drop in temperature.

Green brushed the hair off Red's face. He was sleeping fitfully and sweating like crazy, shivering all the while – his cheeks were flushed and his nose was running. Green threw a blanket back over him and hugged him tightly. Red's eyelids cracked open.


	92. Chapter 92

loooong chapter... ish

Dun dun dun

Adumbrate means something along the lines of foreshadowing

Its like

Adum-dum-dum! …brate.

Sorry the vocab nerd in me is too strong

And this has nothing to do with the chapter

I think

* * *

911. polymath: one who knows a great deal about several different fields

Pikachu grumbled from underneath a pile of blankets, and then crawled out and headbutted Green in the back of his knees. Green, who had been hugging a cocooned Red while standing by the enormous blanket pile, fell face first into the blankets, landing on top of Red. Pikachu snorted before walking away.

Green, meanwhile, was lying face down on the blankets, nursing his head. His skull had hit something solid and rectangular – and as suspected, there was of a stack of books and textbooks under a blanket.

He marveled at the tremendous stack – Red had not been idling around – and curiously stared at textbooks of astronomy and high level physics. Although Green had been quite the accomplished polymath, his studies had focused more around life sciences, and he was quite impressed.

912. incense: to make angry; to enrage

Green temporarily forgot that he was lying on top of Red, but when he did, he jumped up as if he'd been shocked, and then went back to fussing. Red's eyelids were shut, but they fluttered shakily, and his entire body was soaked with sweat. Green swept the whole bundle of Red and blankets up, trudged on over to the bath, and had Arcanine and Gyarados fill up the tub with hot water.

Red blinked a couple times. He'd gotten sick a couple days ago, and had been resting as per the health textbook's advice. He made sure to keep away from his pokemon to avoid spreading the virus, but that also caused him to be isolated as well. Well, being cooped inside and too nauseous to really move, he hadn't really eaten much and had been aching and his nose was running and his mouth was dry and he was alone.

And then he'd blinked once and Green was hugging him and oh, it was warm.

And then he'd kind of passed out. When he woke up again, he could feel a little breeze between his naked legs, and if he kept his eyes open for a second he could see Green's face on fire. The brunet's eyes were focused firmly on Red's feet, so he didn't notice Red opening and closing his eyes. Green had one arm firmly wrapped around Red's waist while another focused on taking off clothes (the floor was too cold to lay Red down), and it was a pretty awkward and inefficient method. At last, the brunet finished stripping him and then gently put him into the tub. Red's skin jolted a bit at the warm temperature, before slowly accustoming to the heat. He kept his eyes closed and his toes curled as the warmth coursed through his body.

Green walked back over with a bar of soap, and rolling up his sleeves and kneeling on the ground outside of the tub, he started working on massaging and cleaning Red's back. Red made an "o" shaped with his mouth and sighed softly as he felt knots in his shoulders being rubbed, and his tense shoulders sagging. Green tried to recall thoughts of Daisy and trying to learn how to massage, trying furiously to forget the fact _he'd just stripped Red_.

Green eventually moved around to the side of the tub to start working on cleaning Red's arms, when he glanced up and saw Red watching him passively. Green's face, which had finally cooled to a faint pink, burst into fire again.

Incensed, he threw the soap bar at Red's chest. "Oh my Arceus if you're awake do it yourself!"

913. mortal: subject to death; causing death

Green ran away in mortal embarrassment to the main cave and then squatted down and hugged his knees while rocking back and forth on his toes. He's seen plenty of male genitalia, whether it be in anatomy class or nude art or gigantic sculptures or while studying human biology – ok, and he'd even seen Red's when they were kids. Green had no clue why he was so embarrassed, but he just was and Umbreon skipped away from Espeon long enough to rub her cheek against Green's forehead comfortingly.

914. eloquent: articulate; convincing and effective in speech

After a good five minutes of absolutely no sound, Green cautiously walked around the corner to check on Red. The bar of soap was outside of the tub, and Red appeared to have fallen asleep yet again.

Green ditched his unwieldy, long sleeved jacket and hauled Red upright yet again. Keeping his eyes focused on Red's legs, he toweled the pale boy dry, and then pulled out his own change of clothes from his travelling backpack. Everything was a little too big, but clean clothes were better than sweaty ones.

Green rolled Red up (like a burrito) in the blankets and then carried him back to his nest and plopped him down. He carefully observed Red's now steadier breathing, and then sighed. Red was not yet horribly thin, but definitely not eating enough. Time for food.

He dug out a metal pot and filled it with a couple scoops of rice and a lot of water, and carefully propped it above the fire with a metal spider contraption. He gazed emptily at the fire for a minute, before snapping out of his daze and wandering back to check on Red.

Thankfully, Red seemed a whole lot warmer – he was no longer shivering, and his lips were slightly parted as steady streams of air entered and exited his mouth. Green stared at Red's closed eyes, before reaching over to brush aside a lock of hair, and to grab an astronomy textbook.

Green had never gotten to studying astronomy – biology, chemistry, anatomy, physics, environmental science, medicine, yes, but astronomy, no. The textbook margins were packed with neatly written notes and annotations. Red's handwriting.

Green squinted and examined the writing even more closely. Red's vocabulary and writing style was truly proficient – analysis points were eloquently phrased and jotted down. Way back in primary school, Green and Red had been top students, but Green marveled at the fact that Red had actually bothered to read the plethora of textbooks his mom had sent over time.

915. predilection: a special liking for something; a preference

Green walked back over the fire with the textbook, and set it aside to take a quick glance at the rice gruel (there weren't many ingredients to spice it up – he hoped Red had developed a special predilection for dull, healthy foods). Thinking about it, Red had only gotten sick one other time – people didn't catch colds from being cold (although that could lead to immune system enervation or hypothermia); they had to contract the colds from other people.

916. macabre: suggesting the horror of death

Green filled a bowl with the bland rice gruel, and then propped Red up so he was sitting upright, leaning against the wall. Green shakily guided the spoon to Red's parted lips, and he struggled to keep his mind out of the gutter as Red swallowed the spoonful easily. Red's eyelids opened, and calm, red eyes met flustered, green ones.

Mesmerized, Green stared and stared before his spoon clattered in his bowl and he remembered his purpose. Red did not show any signs of growing arms (he was still all cocooned up), so Green had to continue spoon feeding. He was acutely aware of Red's eyes focused on his, and struggled to keep calm.

Gold and Silver and Leaf crashed into the cave just then – literally, Leaf shoved the boys in and Gold tripped on a rock. Silver landed on him, exacerbating whatever bruises were forming. Gold dramatically cried out, claiming "death by tripping," although his scrapes were nowhere near that macabre.

917. tourniquet: a device, usually an encircling bandage, used to cut off the flow of blood

Green and Red were shielded by the shadows and the clothes hanging from the clothesline in front of the blanket-nest. Leaf called out.

"Hello? … Red? Green?"

Green glanced wistfully at Red, wishing they had had more time alone. Well, even snowball fights couldn't last a whole lot longer than half an hour. Their eyes locked briefly, and Green sighed before putting his bowl aside and walking to the cave entrance.

"Hey." He furrowed his eyebrows as he overheard Gold speculating about how to tie a tourniquet around his scraped elbow.

918. itinerary: a route or proposed route for a journey

"Where's Red?" Leaf plopped down by the fire, prodding it and stirring it into life. Silver rolled off of Gold, and joined Leaf by the fire. Gold remained face down on the ground.

"He's… sick."

Gold sat up rapidly. "Wait what?"

Green rolled his eyes. "He's running a fever."

Gold rolled onto his back. "Whaaat? Then the whole itinerary of come up the mountain and have a dramatic battle and then come down is… not happening?"

919. brawn: muscles; strength

As Green nodded, he noticed Gold's attention suddenly shift away. Green followed Gold's line of sight, and then groaned as he saw Red slowly walking over, followed by Pikachu. The idiot really didn't know when to decline a challenge, did he? Just when Green was starting to believe Red had more impressive brains than brawn…

Gold's eyes widened and he stuttered. "W-whoa, dude, you look half dead, are you ok?" Green had to agree that compared to the healthily tan boy Red had been advertised as years before, the current Red was thin and frighteningly pale.

Red nodded. He motioned at Pikachu, who bounded out, and came back half a minute later followed by Red's extremely worried team. Only Pikachu and Espeon had been allowed in the cave, for Red was fairly knowledgeable about administering medicine to smaller Pokemon; he'd sent the others to stay with Moltres, but apparently they spent the days hovering outside the cavern.

920. idiom: a style or manner of expression peculiar to an individual or group; an expression that cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its words

Red walked over to his team, and they worriedly rubbed his cheeks and his hair with claws and leathery wings and vines. After silently reassuring them that he was indeed ok, Red turned to face Gold, backed by his team. No fancy idioms or metaphors were needed to describe Red's intent – Gold had come up to challenge Red, and his challenge had been accepted.


	93. Chapter 93

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWS/FAVORITES/FOLLOWS those make my day 3

So sports kick in and its like wow I am so doomed this isn't even funny

What is life

IM SO SORRY ITS BEEN LIKE A WEEK SINCE MY LAST UPDATE AAAAAH

IM SO SORRY

* * *

921. averse: opposed; reluctant; repelled

The air suddenly became deafeningly silent with the heavy tension. The message was clear – Red had accepted the challenge. Gold stood up slowly, and the others all followed Red out the cave. They marched on in apprehensive silence, following a well-trodden path that was fairly clear of snow and shrubbery.

After maybe ten minutes of walking, they arrived at a circular clearing dotted with several tree stumps. On one side, there was a tremendously steep cliff face that formed almost a third of the area's perimeter – the rest of the ring was bordered by tall trees.

Red and Gold walked to opposite sides of the clearing – Green stayed on Red's side, and Leaf and Silver stayed on the borderlines. Green released Exeggutor and Leaf sent out a xatu, and they quickly set about constructing a barrier. As the translucent pink dome enclosed the area, Red and Gold got into throwing position.

Red was definitely feeling under the weather, shivering a lot more obviously than usual. Red was usually stolidly averse to showing any signs of shivering, and it was a little nerve wrecking to see him so shaky. Green glanced nervously at Red every time Red coughed or even hiccupped.

922. hodgepodge: mixture; combination

Red held up his left hand, counting down slowly with his fingers. Green hurriedly walked to the very edge of the barrier, and sat tensely on a large stump with Umbreon on his lap. He sat down just in time to see Red count down the last two seconds.

Two. Red shifted his weight to his right leg, leaning back.

One.

Red chucked his pokeball as high as he could, and at the peak of its trajectory, the delayed release trigger clicked, and then the familiar red release light flashed. Aerodactyl.

Gold furrowed his eyebrows and released Togekiss low to the ground, thinking to set some initial distance between the pokemon and to give Togekiss a chance to adapt to the new surroundings. He realized too late his mistake; in a hodgepodge of nervous energy and lack of good planning, he'd given his pokemon a disadvantage from the very start.

923. anterior: placed before or in front; earlier

Aerodactyl immediately caught sight of Togekiss cruising low to the ground, and Red pointed down. Gold cursed under his breath.

Aerodactyl were known for their speed – Green had raced Pidgeot and Aerodactyl, and Aerodactyl had actually outpaced the bird. Togekiss were not bred for speedy flight – they were not exactly the most aerodynamic flying pokemon, with their plump bodies and wings.

"To'taro, move! Holy shit move, MOVE!"

The fossil pokemon (still a scientific wonder – revival simply through surviving DNA of an anterior epoch!) came crashing down out of the sky, and although the slower, white avian pokemon tried to swerve to the side, Aerodactyl also changed his drop path and headbutted Togekiss so hard that the two pokemon crashed into the snow. Aerodactyl's rock-solid snout made the attack very close to the typical moves used with sharpened stones' edges. Togekiss was half buried, having taken serious damage. Aerodactyl quickly got back up in the air and circled to the top of the barrier-dome.

924. sedentary: sitting down most of the time

Green winced as he saw Togekiss crash into the snow. Even if Aerodactyl wasn't a particularly heavy pokemon, that attack had definitely inflicted some serious damage. He watched for movement, and saw none, but Gold refused to recall his pokemon just yet. Gold simply stared, his eyebrows set and his lips pressed in a determined smile.

True enough, the lump of white feathers stirred, and Togekiss hopped out of the pit in the snow. And if Green thought he had seen the pokemon pissed, he had just seen the tip of the iceberg.

Togekiss was _enraged_. The pokemon defied all typical behavioral observations of the togepi family – Green had never seen a _jubilee_ pokemon that pissed. The togepi family tended to be happy, sedentary pokemon that were rarely seen; some cultures claimed that their presence ensured good fortune and happiness. Gold's Togekiss was no such creature of joy – Togekiss growled loudly before trying to stretch out his wings and get back into flight.

925. mammoth: very large; of clumsy or unwieldy size

However, the damage had been too great – the extent was unknown, but judging by the awkward wing angle, Green could say that the left humerus had probably popped out of its place in the fragile scapula: the avian dislocated shoulder. Flight would be impossible.

After feebly flapping his wing a couple more times, Togekiss resigned to crouching down and arching his head up to watch Aerodactyl. He glanced at Gold, who was enthusiastically giving him a thumbs up and a signal for the next move. Rolling his eyes, Togekiss began to focus energy and wait for the right moment.

Aerodactyl and Red had been watching warily to check if Togekiss was still fit for battle, and seeing that both the pokemon and his trainer were still eager to fight, Aerodactyl wasted no time preparing for another headbutt. Aerodactyl had honed his nose diving skills and he'd knocked mammoths of predatory birds out of the sky – he was surprised Togekiss was still conscious.

926. evanescent: fading from sight; transient

Green was startled out of the battle mode when he heard faint choking sounds from Red, who was doubled over and coughing into his hand. He leapt up from the stump and pounded on the barrier to catch Red's attention, and Exeggutor looked over, wondering whether to open the barrier or not.

Red calmed his breathing and looked around at Green. He gave a thumbs-up, and Green stepped warily away from the evanescent barrier and sat down.

927. postulate: to assume as true, especially as a precondition in a chain of reasoning

Aerodactyl was circling nervously in the air, waiting for a signal. Togekiss was still squatted on the snow, an easy target. Red stifled a cough and made a small chop in the air, and Aerodactyl dived down for a simple wing attack to knock out Togekiss – anything more powerful would be a cruel overkill.

Red seemed fairly confident, but Green was not so sure about an easy knock-out; he'd seen a ton of last second powerful attacks from Gold's pokemon. Green watched nervously as the fossil pokemon swooped downwards – he postulated that Togekiss was far fitter than he appeared, and that the white avian pokemon was still capable of dealing a huge blow.

Aerodactyl was just a few feet above the ground, poised to land the last blow, when Togekiss suddenly reared up and launched a focus blast at Aerodactyl. The blast hit Aerodactyl squarely on the stomach, and the fossil pokemon was knocked way off to the side. Togekiss subsequently passed out from the exertion, and Gold recalled the fainted pokemon.

928. pariah: a social outcast

Aerodactyl shook the snow off his wings, and shakily ran to take off and spiral up to the skies yet again. Although the blast had done a fair amount of damage, Aerodactyl was still quite a ways from fainting.

Next out from Gold's side was Ambipom, who appeared gleefully intrigued by the snow. The monkey bounced back and forth lightly, waving its curiously hand-like tails back and forth. DNA sequencing had led to radical hypotheses about mutated Mankeys becoming local pariahs, which had then migrated away to breed and create a whole new pokemon species.

Ambipom looked hardly daunted by the easily one hundred foot distance separating him from Aerodactyl – instead of fretting about ways to get to the opponent, the monkey decided to sculpt a snowman and wait for the other to make the first move.

929. shoddy: inferior or cheap

Green knew that Gold's training techniques were far from shoddy, but he couldn't help but snort as Ambipom got to work adding eyes to his snowman's face. The monkey was seriously just walking over to the cliff face to pick up pebbles, and completely ignoring the battle. Red was deadpanning, and Aerodactyl was slowly gliding in circles.

930. pernicious: very harmful or destructive

At last, Red broke the standstill by having Aerodactyl pound away at the cliff face, causing fairly large rocks to fall down around Ambipom. After knocking out several chunks, Aerodactyl took the opportunity to get some rest in the crevice he'd created.

Rock slides were fairly pernicious moves that could seriously injure some pokemon, but Ambipom easily dodged the falling boulders and instead took the opportunity to clamber up the steep cliff face.

The agile pokemon scaled the one hundred feet in no more than fifteen seconds; Aerodactyl squawked in surprise and struggled to get back in flight, but Ambipom punched the fossil pokemon's head, and the ancient pokemon fell headfirst from several hundred feet above the ground. The monkey had hit just the right place to knock Aerodactyl unconscious, and Red recalled the falling dinosaur in a flash of red light.

Green let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Somebody had actually knocked out one of Red's pokemon. But now, the monkey was essentially trapped on the side of a cliff – climbing down was a whole different game from climbing up.

Who would Red choose next?


	94. Chapter 94

first of all THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SUPPORT! Every favorite and follow and review means a lot to me and even if you're pissed at my incoherence and almost lack of plot and ugh where's the fuzz, thank you so much for reading up to this point! I've spent a lot of time writing chapters (not enough lol i still need to go back sometime and rewrite/edit/revamp everything) and it makes me SO happy that people get this far! HUGSSS

anyway I love pokemon omg so many pokepuns help with vocab

Simian means monkey-like

Like simisear and simisage and simipour

For some reason I wrote like 1/5 of this chapter saying mankey instead of ambipom idk

* * *

931. revel: to delight, to enjoy

Red only thought for about half a second before releasing Espeon. Ambipom was at a clear disadvantage – although the simian pokemon had incredibly dexterity in upwards ascent (scaling the entire cliff in almost half a minute!), downwards climbing was at least a hundred times more painstaking. Even if Ambipom tried to clamber down, he'd be easy game for high speed psychic waves.

Ambipom had little time to revel in the beautiful scenery – he tried to throw rocks from his high perch, but his efforts were in the end entirely futile, as Espeon could easily see the projectiles coming and dodge them. Espeon blasted Ambipom's foothold, and the pokemon came falling down the cliff face.

932. exhaustive: thorough

Gold panicked, and frantically aimed his recall laser at Ambipom; it was a difficult task, for Gold was a fair distance from the cliff face. Ambipom was also desperately using limbs and tail to try to seize a protrusion in the rock face, but it seemed as though nothing could stop the precipitous fall.

Green knew what would happen, but he still cringed as he saw Ambipom crash into Espeon's flexible net of psychic fibers, which slowed his descent greatly before disappearing and letting the monkey crash into the ground. Ambipom may have been saved, but the fall probably had been traumatizing for both pokemon and trainer; Gold looked like he was hyperventilating on the other end of the clearing.

Red was exhaustive in ensuring physical safety for other's pokemon during battle; mental strength, not so much. Ambipom was weak-kneed, and passed out after a blast of psychic energy hit him squarely in the stomach.

933. predatory: characterized by robbing or exploiting others; living by capturing and feeding on other animals

Espeon tossed his head and padded silently back to Red, waving his lavender tail back and forth. Red gave a faint glimmer of a smile, and they stood prepared for the next pokemon.

Gold recalled Ambipom and sent out Alakazam, who regally glanced over his surroundings before huffing and frowning at Espeon. Espeon furrowed his eyebrows and glared right back.

Alakazam's stare turned predatory, and with a command from Gold, the psi pokemon teleported right next to Espeon and slammed a shadow ball into Espeon's back – or, he tried to, but most of the damage was absorbed by a light screen which shimmered briefly before disappearing as the shadows dissipated.

934. hogwash: worthless or false speech or writing

Espeon looked over his shoulder and smirked, and the red orb in his forehead shined brilliantly as he released a tremendous shadow ball right back at Alakazam. Alakazam parried the dark, bruised purple shadows with his spoon, which glowed bright pink before returning to its normal, humdrum appearance.

Alakazam teleported to the far end of the arena to gain time to recuperate, but Espeon would allow no such thing – the feline vanished and appeared right behind Alakazam and launched yet another angry shadow ball. Alakazam barely had the time to deflect the attack with another spoon before teleporting yet again.

Some textbooks characterized the Alakazam evolution family as slow, thoughtful creatures – complete hogwash of course; Alakazam had one of the fastest energy recovery rates, which allowed for rapid teleportation multiple times in a specific time frame. Alakazam were no ponderers; when they were on the run, they were some of the hardest pokemon to keep up with.

935. virulent: extremely infectious or harmful; bitterly hostile

Espeon kept up remarkably well with Alakazam, and although Green was completely lost as to what was going on, Red seemed to be in sync with Espeon, staring directly at the locations where Alakazam would then teleport. All Green could see were small, faint footprints wherever the two psychics jumped and teleported. Exeggutor seemed absolutely thrilled, and the massive barrier quivered.

Espeon grew increasingly frustrated with each near miss, and last resolved to meditating to calm his mind and raise his special attack and defense. Psychics grew unstoppably powerful when calm – most tended to be snarky or arrogant on a normal basis, contrary to the advertised images.

Alakazam realized the dangers of Espeon powering up, and immediately fired a tiny black ball of shadows at the feline. Espeon smoothly swerved around the ball, and growling, fired his own virulent attack. The ruby red orb on his forehead flashed, but this time, only a miniscule black bead of shadows flew forward.

936. extraneous: not an essential part of; unimportant

Alakazam raised a spoon to defend, but this time, the tiny ball of shadows tore straight through the spoon as if it were mere paper. The incredibly dense sphere sent Alakazam flying into the barrier at the other end of the arena. Alakazam hit the barrier with an audible thud, and fell limply to the snow.

Espeon sniffed and then tossed his head. He had only been hit by minor attacks so far, and was still in good health. Alakazam lay prone in the snow, unmoving.

Espeon sat down and waited for Gold to recall Alakazam, but as seconds ticked by and no action was made, Espeon began to grow suspicious. Seconds grew into a minute, and the feline cautiously padded over to check if Alakazam was really unconscious. Physically checking for consciousness was normally an extraneous move, as Espeon naturally picked up hums and vibrations from living things, but with another psychic one never knew what was real and what was fake.

937. advent: a coming or arrival, especially of something very important

Espeon looked awfully small and unguarded as he silently loped across the center of the arena, and Gold's expressionless face was equally as forbidding. When Espeon slowly approached Alakazam and prodded the other on the cheek, Green half expected to see an explosion, but there was just silence.

Espeon looked inquisitively at Gold, who stared blank-faced at Alakazam. Espeon could sense no advent of attack, and glanced at Red, who was coughing into his elbow.

The feline shrugged and began to head back to Red, when he crashed into nothingness – or a barrier. Instantly alarmed, Espeon whipped his head around, and saw Alakazam fully awake, encasing the two of them in a tiny spherical barrier. Glowing pink lines in geometric patterns appeared from the snow, and a massive amount of energy manifested almost instantaneously in the very center of the spherical barrier, before exploding into blinding light.

938. concoct: to invent; to create by combining ingredients, as in cooking

The power was on par with that of a hyper beam, if not greater, for the energy was all collected and encased in such a tiny volume; after a second, the blinding flash disappeared, and the barrier dissolved. Alakazam was badly burned, and Espeon was unconscious, having used all of his energy to create a barrier at the very last second. Even so, the feline was slightly singed.

Red recalled Espeon, and Gold quietly did the same for Alakazam. Although Alakazam certainly deserved praise for concocting such a powerful trap, his trainer was not happy with the result – second, or even third degree burns covered Alakazam's limbs.

939. accost: to approach and speak to, usually aggressively

Silver swiftly approached Gold and roughly knocked on the barrier to catch his attention. Gold tilted his head, and Silver accosted him roughly, demanding for Alakazam's pokeball. Gold glanced over at Red and Green for approval, and when Red slowly nodded, Exeggutor made a small square in the dome for Gold to hand over the pokeball. Silver grabbed it, and then Gold must have made a snarky remark because shortly after, Silver tried to punch Gold and his face was visibly red.

940. luminescent: emitting light not derived from heat, especially through chemical reaction

Leaf joined Silver in patching up and applying salves and compresses to Alakazam's injuries. Red handed Espeon over to Green, and Green let Umbreon do the fussing for him. The luminescent barrier flashed a couple times to show Exeggutor was ready to continue.

Red had more pokemon left for battling, so he took the initiative for releasing the next pokemon. He raised the pokeball over his head and clicked the switch, and a battle scarred fire dragon materialized as the red light faded. Charizard roared and flexed his wings, flapping until he left the snow and was hovering just a few feet from the center line.

Typhlosion, Ampharos, and Lapras were the remaining still fit for battle. Gold nervously ran his fingers along their pokeballs, and slowly chose the next pokeball from his belt – he could feel his sweaty palms sticking to the polished surface. How to fight a fire-breathing dragon?


	95. Chapter 95

IM SORRY SLOW POSTS ARE SLOW

I meant to get this out like three days ago but danggg life is life

i need more time in my day

like 30 hour days sound good

i should move to another planet

* * *

941. circuitous: being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course

Gold released Lapras, who plopped heavily onto the snow. She seemed right at home in the cold, and looked up challengingly at Charizard. Charizard roared again, and Lapras screamed in response, stirring up a blizzard as she did so.

Charizard began a rapid ascent to avoid the flying chunks of ice, and as he dodged the hail, he became a brilliant orange blur of flames and sparks. Lapras, unaffected by the weather, squinted to lock her aim on Charizard, and prepared to unleash a blast of icy water. She braved Charizard's air slashes, and focused in on bringing water from her storage and bottling it in high pressure for an attack. No matter how fast Charizard was, his leathery orange hide was easy to spot against the sky – the roaring flame on his tail also served a beacon.

Lapras was against being circuitous, whether while simply ferrying Gold around in the water or while in battle. As soon as she was prepared, she released a hydro pump with raging water just degrees away from freezing. The blast of water surged into the sky, narrowly missing Charizard's tail but hitting him full on in one of his wings.

942. kudos: glory; fame

With one wing injured, Charizard abruptly dropped from his high altitude, and struggled to glide to the side of the cliff, where he scrabbled for a hold on the rock. He shook his numbed wing, trying to force the muscles back into movement.

Lapras gave him no time to rest, and paddling herself forward across the snow, she aimed ice beam after ice beam at Charizard, who struggled to deflect the spears of ice with hot, ragged breaths of fire. Gold cheered her on, yelling for her to go for the glory and the kudos. However, with Lapras still being quite some distance away, only one of every five would even get close, but as she slowly slid and paddled towards the cliff, her aim improved and soon Charizard was hard pressed to stop the attacks.

Charizard would not go down without a fight – he jerked his injured wing up, and zoomed off the cliff as Lapras shot a particularly large ice beam. As he left, he made sure to kick off a couple loose rocks, hoping that they would slide down and stop Lapras at least for a moment.

943. litany: a long, repetitive recitation

Lapras was forced to paddle clumsily to the side as a particularly large rock fell in her direction, and Charizard took advantage of the lapse to swoop down, jaws wide open.

Any grass pokemon specialist could give you a litany of the processes undertaken by grass type pokemon to release solar beams, but usage of the attack by other types was still a kind of mystery. Green himself had once pursued the topic, but so few non-grass types could learn the attack that it became impossible to gather conclusive evidence.

Up to that point, Charizard had been gradually absorbing and gathering sunlight, using minimal energy in his fire attacks – and at last, as he barreled downwards his tail burned a hot, bright white and at ten feet above Lapras, a blinding white light appeared from his jaws, and he released a point blank solar beam.

944. grime: dirt; mud

The attack's searing heat instantly made Lapras skin dry and begin to crack, and she screamed in pain before falling over, unconscious. Having greatly depleted her water sources in launching a long distance hydro pump, she was unable to take the blast. However Charizard, unable to halt his descent, crashed headfirst into the snow, tumbling and rolling before finally flopping on his back, dazed by the fall.

Gold quickly recalled Lapras, and he gaped, shocked by the sudden turnover. However, he shook his head and grabbed the next pokeball – he had two pokemon to Red's four; he had to take advantage of Charizard's temporary confusion.

Ampharos burst out of his pokeball, and with a quick command from Gold, fired off electricity at Charizard, who was still prone in a heap of melted snow and dirt and grime. Charizard batted his good wing furiously to roll over and dodge the attacks, but he was unable to escape; he howled and passed out.

945. coalesce: to grow together; to merge into a single body

Ampharos stared, breathing heavily as he watched the red recall light flicker over Charizard. His eyes followed the beam of light back to the pokeball, and to Red. The yellow sheep-like pokemon blinked, and then gaped, and then jumped and _squealed_, waving and meeping in excitement. Red blinked, his eyebrows furrowing slightly before rising in recognition. Red waved slowly back.

Gold looked on, entirely lost, but quickly became serious as Red threw his next pokeball. The capsule split open in a flash of light, which faded away to reveal Venusaur.

Venusaur, the vegetal dinosaur, glanced at Red in concern, before turning his attention to Ampharos. Ampharos instinctively crouched down, and with a hand signal from Gold, the red orbs on his forehead and his tail blinked once, twice in unison, before he released an insect-like signal beam: confusing sparks of blue and red and green and white coalesced into a beam of multicolored energy.

946. effusive: overflowing; excessively emotional

Venusaur, not limber enough to dodge entirely to the side, squatted down into a depression in the snow, narrowly missing the beam. The beam shot over his head and just grazed the tip of the flower petals on his back, and where the attack made contact, a little flurry of sparks flew.

Ampharos promptly scowled and leapt forward, galloping through the snow. However, Gold flashed the recall light over his back, and feeling the familiar pull, Ampharos screeched to a halt and became effusive, whining and protesting. However, Gold would not heed his complaints, and switched out Ampharos for Typhlosion.

947. impetuous: characterized by sudden emotion, energy, etc; impulsive and passionate

Typhlosion burst out of his pokeball with an impetuous roar, and charged forward towards the green lump in the snow. Venusaur seemed to be a sitting duck, apparently just staring intently as Typhlosion approached rapidly.

When Typhlosion was just five or so feet away from Venusaur with jaws spread and flames blazing, the earth collapsed and Typhlosion fell into a pit. While Venusaur had been waiting, he had stuck his vines into the snow and had been setting up a pitfall. Typhlosion howled in surprise, and Venusaur stomped on the frozen earth surrounding the pit, breaking off chunks to smother Typhlosion's fire.

As Typhlosion's flames slowly died out, Venusaur slowed his wild pounding, and backed off, panting at the exertion. Seeing that Typhlosion had ceased to struggle wildly, Venusaur curiously peered back in.

948. expanse: a large amount of something spread out

Typhlosion responded with a sudden explosion of fire, sending searing flames right into Venusaur's face. Venusaur growled and rolled over in the snow, writhing furiously to put out the flames. Typhlosion took the opportunity to wriggle out of the mound of frozen earth and try to clamber out of the pit.

Red was signaling furiously to Venusaur to move further from the pit, but over the expanse of snow and with his eyes bleary and running from smoke, Venusaur could only growl in pain, unable to see Red's commands.

949. displace: to take the place of

Typhlosion overturned the last frozen chunk of soil, and displacing snow with a well-aimed flamethrower, he cleared out enough space to leap out. Red was coughing and fumbling with Venusaur's pokeball, shakily aiming the recall light. The red light would come so close, just flickering over Venusaur's body – but Red's shivering was too much, and Typhlosion bowled over Venusaur in a flaming charge before the recall was complete.

950. heady: intoxicating; exhilarating

Venusaur grunted at the impact, and released a cloud of heady spores and powders before keeling over and being recalled in flash of red light. Almost simultaneously, Red released Blastoise, who charged out of his pokeball running at top speed. The ungainly turtle was somehow pushing through the snow at top speed, and blasted a frigid torrent of water into Typhlosion's face.

Typhlosion slumped over and collapsed in the snow, bruised from fallen chunks of frozen snow and shivering from the extreme cold. Gold nervously recalled Typhlosion and as he grabbed Ampharos' pokeball again, he could feel the skin of his knuckles stretching as he clenched his fingers tightly around the ball. His last pokemon.


	96. Chapter 96

951. mishap: an unlucky or unfortunate action

Green could care less who won at the moment; Red's breathing was growing increasingly labored, and after one long bout of coughing, Green noticed Red wiping his hand on his vest, and although it was hard to be sure because of the vest's color, Green was pretty sure it was blood. Leaf was running around the barrier, and Silver looked up from Alakazam's burns to glance at Red.

Despite all the worried glances and signals of concern to Red, Gold was oblivious and tense for an entirely different reason; he was immersed in the battle mode, and sent Ampharos charging towards Blastoise even though Red was doubled over in pain, unable to give a command. Blastoise rolled over to the side at the last second as Ampharos charged by, narrowly avoiding a mishap. However, Blastoise was unable to concentrate, having snapped out of his own battle mode to glance worriedly at Red.

Gold and Ampharos took advantage at Blastoise's lack of attention, and with the red orb on his tail shining a blinding light, Ampharos launched a massive blast of electrical energy towards Blastoise. Red's eyes went wide at the sight, and with one hand over his mouth, he waved furiously for Blastoise to dodge. Blastoise recognized the warning a moment too late, and was engulfed by a massive blast of electricity.

952. mendacious: lying; false, especially habitually

In immature days, Green would have laughed at Red for being so weak as to be sick, but Green could still feel the pull to his mendacious self; he didn't want to believe that Red could be so sick as to be coughing blood – he wanted to laugh it off, pretend it couldn't happen. But here Red was, struggling to keep his eyes open and his lungs functioning as he watched his teammates be knocked out.

Green crossed his fingers and prayed for Blastoise to just get the battle over with; pretending to faint was even ok, if somehow that could get Red off the mountain and into a hospital even sooner. He watched as Blastoise lay prone on the snow, and clenched his fists tightly. It was all he could do to hold in his worry and not command Exeggutor to lift the barrier and just fly Red to the hospital.

953. prodigal: exceedingly or recklessly wasteful

Red grimaced when he looked up and saw Blastoise unconscious in the snow – that bolt of electricity would have to be at record level to one-shot KO Blastoise, even with the type advantage. Red switched out Blastoise, and his last pokeball cracked open without him even motioning to pick it up.

Out of the flash of red light was the yellow electric mouse, pissed for having to wait in the pokeball, pissed at Red for being so sick, and pissed at Ampharos for not noticing Red's difficulty breathing. With a small hand wave from Red, Pikachu charged forward, muscles in his tail flexing and hardening to the hardness of iron.

Ampharos' last blast of energy had been so powerful as to almost be prodigal in the amount of energy used; exhausted by the effort, Ampharos could only muster the energy to curl up in a ball and brave the iron tail attack.

954. proscribe: to prohibit or forbid

Pikachu sprinted across the snow, and at the last moment, he leapt into a flying somersault, swinging his tail around to land a brutal blow on Ampharos' back. Ampharos cried out in pain, and Pikachu hopped backwards to a safe distance. Red had proscribed Pikachu from going all out with his iron tail attack, since Pikachu had broken bones before – but Pikachu was in no mood for going easy, with his trainer in such a state.

955. foreboding: a sense of impending evil, especially one without definite cause

Although painful, the attack had not been enough to knock Ampharos out, and with shouts of encouragement from Gold, the pokemon stood up shakily and fell back into a defensive stance. Pikachu snorted, and glanced at Red for further commands.

Red covered his mouth as another bout of coughing began, but he shakily raised his other hand to signal a repeat of the attack. Green watched Red anxiously with a sense of foreboding, and urged Pikachu to either hurry up and beat Ampharos or just play dead.

956. curator: a person in charge of a museum

Pikachu grunted and jumped back to gain some running distance, and his tail began to stiffen and harden for another iron tail attack. Ampharos growled and began focusing energy – although his mobility was greatly reduced by exhaustion, he was still able to muster some strength with the adrenaline coursing through his body.

Pikachu immediately bolted forward, reluctant to give Ampharos any chance at recovery. As he leapt across the snow and jumped in a somersault, he accelerated and lunged towards Ampharos, stray sparks streaming from his flashing cheek pouches. Ampharos planted his feet firmly on the ground and raised his fist in a counter attack – a point blank focus blast, which exploded in Pikachu's face, knocking both pokemon back. Ampharos, with a higher defense and weight, only was driven back a few steps by the recoil, and jumped towards Pikachu's stunned body and knocked the mouse flying with a brick-breaking chop in the stomach.

Green could vaguely remember some curator (maybe even Brock) discussing the paralysis of ground-types; the discussion had drifted to the ability of electric pokemon to become paralyzed and popular training techniques in Kalos to combat paralysis in electric pokemon. However, these recent training techniques had probably never reached Red, and Green could tell that Pikachu was experiencing some symptoms of paralysis.

957. spontaneous: occurring naturally or without forethought

Gold looked surprised at Pikachu's tell-tale twitching, and motioned for Ampharos to send a couple small signal beams to check Pikachu's mobility. Sure enough, Pikachu's steps were heavy and awkward, and even one of the carelessly aimed beams managed to hit the mouse's hind leg. Ampharos had hit one of Pikachu's nerves controlling high voltage electricity storage, and Pikachu's electric pouches were buzzing off uncontrollably, sparking and releasing electricity in spontaneous bursts.

Pikachu's energy was draining and dispersing rapidly, and the mouse frantically leapt toward Ampharos in a final sprint, hoping to take down the other with him in a massive burst of energy. However, only ten feet away from his target, Pikachu's energy supply was wasted, and the mouse limply carried on and hit Ampharos with a weak tackle.

958. propagate: to multiply or reproduce; to transmit; to extend to a wider area

Even that small of an impact was enough to knock Ampharos over, but Ampharos had ridiculously high stamina – the pokemon forced itself to stand upright yet again, refusing to let victory slide by. Pikachu, equally tenacious, growled and tried to bite Ampharos, intent on winning.

Ampharos screamed and knocked Pikachu away, who slid along the surface of the snow weakly. Ampharos inhaled and exhaled with labored breaths, watching Pikachu. Another attack, and Ampharos would pass out – he couldn't go on any longer.

Pikachu lay still on the snow, and many pairs of eyes stared at the unmoving body. The mouse seemed so awfully small and harmless, a mere yellow and brown speck amidst the snow and stumps and craters where attacks had cleared the snow. Outside the barrier, a passing fearow cawed, its harsh cry propagating through deafening quiet – other than that, it was complete silence.

959. infer: to reason or conclude from evidence

A full minute might have passed, but it seemed like an hour before Gold quietly sank to his knees. Pikachu was unconscious. Ampharos was still standing. It was impossible to infer anything else. His eyes watering and nose still covered with beads of sweat, Gold lost all of his tense posture and flopped down.

"I won."

960. holster: to support or strengthen

Gold's voice was no greater than a whisper, but in the encompassing quiet, it was easily audible. Exeggutor's barrier slowly broke down and dissipated into iridescent flakes, leaving behind its small inhabitants. Once the last pink flakes vanished, all that was left were mere mortals – the magic and intensity of the moment had fluttered away with the diaphanous barrier and all that remained were tired people and tired pokemon.

Green stumbled forward and grabbed hold of Red, and he released Arcanine, who quickly ran forward to pick up Pikachu, whose fur was singed from uncontrolled dispersion of electricity. Silver also left Alakazam in Leaf's care in order to holster Gold. A recall light flickered out and encompassed Ampharos before disappearing.


End file.
